Transcript of Episode 2: Karat and Schtick

There was this video that went viral a while back about a fight in New York City's Diamond District. A jeweler accused another jeweler of ripping off a customer, and they ended up not just in an argument, but in a brawl right there in the aisle of a diamond exchange. It was all recorded from multiple angles in multiple chapters. The outraged wind-up: the accuser, a guy named Max Agajany, banging his hand like a gavel on top of a jewelry case.

The other jeweler, You fucking piece of shit.

And then it's on. A bunch of men, old and young, going at it. This video was everywhere. Even people who know nothing about the jewelry market or the Diamond District saw it. Tens of millions of views. The whole presentation was over-the-top dramatic. Including the coda, a selfie video of Max reclining on a hospital bed.

In the end, they tried to kill me. Strangled me with my own chain. I gotta get out of this hospital. TracksNYC.com.

TracksNYC.com. That's the website for Max's company, Tracks NYC, which pretty much lives online. Almost everything Max does for the company is posted. So I wondered, and I wasn't alone. Was this whole thing for real? Maybe it was staged or half-staged. I learned about the fight video from reporter Corey Kilgannon. He wrote about it for The New York Times. Corey loves the Diamond District. He's written a half dozen stories about it over the years.

Such a singular place in New York because it's so old school.

We walked over there from our office. He told me no place else in New York operates like this. The Diamond District is one of the world's biggest jewelry hubs. And it's just this one block, 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. And it does feel old school. Thousands of vendors are packed in here, in showrooms and exchanges and weird little offices tucked into every cranny of every building. It hasn't been sanitized or corporatized like Times Square just a few blocks away. It's scruffy and chaotic, clogged with cars and armored trucks. Guys are hawking watches, offering to buy gold, negotiating deals, all right there on the sidewalk.

I mean, it's like you're stepping back 20, 30 years in time, at least. It's like stuff that you would have encountered in the '80s and '90s in New York. You know, people coming up to you trying to pull you into one of the galleries for a bargain.

But is that like, were you— Hi.

How you doing, pal?

Good. How you doing? We're not even a quarter of the way down the block and a man has materialized as if on cue, trying to pull us into one of the galleries for a bargain. He's wearing a powder blue sports coat and a blue check shirt straining at the buttons.

Let me make an impression on you. 40-carat natural yellow. How much is that? How much you want to pay for that?

Which one?

That square one. That big square one.

40 carats. 40 carats.

How much you want to pay? Well, where do we start?

He's pointing to an enormous sparkling yellow ring in the center of the display window we're standing in front of. If it's really a diamond, it is maybe the biggest diamond I've ever seen. It looks like it should either be in a museum or in a novelty store. It cannot be a real diamond. That's a diamond?

Natural, yeah.

Natural diamond? Come on, it is not.

She hurt my feelings. No, no, she hurt my feelings. You hear that, right?

Now 2 other guys are suddenly weighing in.

He's a good guy right here. He only does real stuff.

I'll later find this ring on the company's website listed for $2.2 million. So real, I guess. The powder blue salesman repeatedly invites us into the store, but I tell him we're just wandering for now. Maybe we'll circle back.

Yeah, what's your name? James.

James. James what?

James Bond.

And he's messing with us. Nice. Very nice to meet you, Mr.

Bond. Oh my God, here we go. Here we go.

He takes out his wallet, flips it open to show a credit card and his driver's license. Bond, comma, James. Oh shit, it's true. James Bond.

James Bond. Bond James. Bond James.

Come on, really?

Yeah. Wow.

Corey and I say goodbye to James Bond and walk a little ways down the block. So, like, I'm so skeptical. Even though that guy showed us his driver's license and his credit card, I'm still just like—

The first guy we meet, his name is James Bond. I mean, what do you do with that?

And he's from Brazil. And then, I don't know. Like, I'm so skeptical.

I hear you.

It's— Do you believe these guys, though?

I don't know you can take anything at face value here. I think this is a place really literally where money talks. I think it's all about, like, you know, the deal and everything else. Like, you can take it with a grain of salt, right? It's part of the shtick, you know? I don't know.

It looked—

the driver's license looked legit. I don't know. What can you do? I mean—

New Yorkers talk a lot about what's real New York and what's ersatz. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's deeply culturally New York and what's branding, the city performing its New Yorkness. That, to me, was the question at the heart of Corey's Tracks NYC story about that viral video. Not just whether the fight was real, but was any of this real? Now I wanted to find out. Corey had introduced me to the Tracks NYC people, so I asked them if I could come hang out at the store. Surprise, surprise, they were happy for possible coverage, and off I went. What I saw during my 2 days there was that my outsider's question— what's real and what's fake— is very much alive inside Tracks NYC. From Serial Productions and The New York Times, I'm Sarah Koenig, and this is Metro. I came on a Friday morning. They told me I'd arrive at 10:30, but then the guy I was supposed to meet didn't show up for another 45 minutes, so I had a long time to look around. I waited on the mezzanine level of Tracks NYC, half a flight up from the main vendor floor. Online sales and customer service people sit up here.

There's a lounge area with red upholstered sofas and chairs, which is where they bring VIPs or people who just really want to meet the owner of the store, Max, or people who want grills, jewelry for your teeth. Just a solid circle over my tooth. Something different on the side, like, um— A young guy named Ayman is selling to a family, a mother and daughter, the daughter's fiancé, and the mom's friend, who is clearly more than a friend. The daughter was grill shopping. They'd all come up from North Carolina, and this was the first and pretty much only thing on their agenda for their first trip together to New York City: visit TRAX NYC. The mom's friend, Doug, was so impressed by the video last month, how Max stood up for the customer who got duped. I mean, I would act the same way, he said.

But you can tell that that was real. That was who— that's who he is right in that moment. You can't fake that.

Eh, I think you can fake anything, really. But maybe I'm just cynical, because I heard this same thing all day. Customers who felt a kinship with Max, as if there were an active struggle going on in the Diamond District, in the world even, between integrity and deceit. And that by choosing Max, they too were choosing a side. This internet-wide burst of solidarity, I found out, had pushed the company to a turning point. Staff told me sales for the month had doubled— more than doubled, in fact— thanks to that crazy video. And now they were trying to capitalize on that momentum. Crank their sales up by a couple million dollars every month. Which meant they were on a hiring spree. They had 2 people trying out for online sales positions: Ray and Shivanya. So that's where I started. I figured I could learn along with them. Trainees are supposed to sell $25,000 worth of merchandise over a 5-day period. If they succeed, then they get to try again for 2 more weeks, $25K each time. And if they're still around by week 4, then they get a shot at the real money: commissions. Eat what you kill, as Rodrigo, the sales manager, likes to say.

Right now, Ray and Shivanya are on day 3 of their first $25,000 goal. How are you doing so far?

We're getting there.

How are you doing so far?

Uh, we're getting there too.

But, um, What's some numbers?

Some actual numbers? Roughly around $1,600 in total.

That's 3 sales so far for Ray. Shivanya is at about half that.

My number is at $865.

Okay.

That's just 1 sale, but we have 1 pendant.

You seem calm.

I am pretty calm.

Are you freaking out on the inside or are you just a calm person?

I'm totally freaking out on the inside. I am totally freaking out.

Shevanya gets a guy on the phone who wants to buy a gold bezel listed for $1,900 on the website. He's offering $1,500. She mutters, absolutely not, but checks with Rodrigo, who does some quick math.

No, we can settle at $1,500. Settle at $1,500? Just tell him, look, I spoke to my manager, and, you know, if you're ready to purchase today, to make you happy, we'll make it happen at $1,500. Are you credit card ready over the phone by any chance?

Shivanya hasn't really worked in sales before, but the other trainee, Ray, has. He's pretty sell-y. He says my man a lot. Most of the customers seem to be men.

So what do you think, my man? Because all the specs, I did as much as I could. That's with the lab diamonds.

Shivanya seems less comfortable with the sales speak.

Thanks for holding. Okay, so I just spoke to my manager and We're ready to make you happy by settling at $1,500, but only if you purchase today. Are you credit card ready?

He is credit card ready.

You're welcome. Have a good one.

Bye-bye.

Yay! All right, wonderful. Good job. Good job. Good job.

Ray gives her a high five. They're rooting for each other. I'm not sure if they know it, but they're also competing against each other for this job. There are 2 open sales spots right now, but Rodrigo is bringing in a bunch more trainees next week. How do you feel?

Okay. So happy. Now I have 2 sales and 1 pendant. If I hit this one, I'll hit the quota.

Shivani and Ray are trying hard to land a job in one of the most expensive cities in the country, the realest task of them all. But as I listen in, I hear them navigating a surprising number of fake customers, customers who aren't customers at all. Shivani spends a long time looking for a diamond tennis bracelet for a buyer named Richard in London who ghosts her. Ray gets an inquiry from a Serbian rapper named Lil Hugo who says sky's the limit on a big gold and diamond chain he wants. He's fake. Another guy calls saying he's Tyrese Halliburton, the NBA player. He's not. What's in it for these fakers? No one could guess. Apart from boredom, maybe. Then I see a couple of real live customers downstairs on the main floor of the exchange who I think might be fake. The exchange floor is laid out like an open market, a couple of aisles running the length, booths on either side, glass cases everywhere. The Tracks NYC territory is at the very front, nearest the street. I notice this slightly odd pair huddled at the counter. 2 guys. They look young to me, sort of mismatched.

They're trying on luxury watches, just casually, like it's no big deal. I hear one of them say, maybe we should both get one. Yeah, why not?

Maybe we should both get one. Come on, that'd be fun. That'd be fun. Little bundle deal.

Watches are some of the most expensive items on sale here. Some of them cost as much as a really nice new car. I'm thinking there is no way these kids have the money for this. The taller one's doing most of the talking. He looks a little older than the other guy. He's wearing a denim-forward getup that looks goofy to me, but I'm guessing rings all sorts of fashion bells in the Instaverse. He also seems sort of sweet. The other guy is quieter, dark-haired, black leather jacket, with a shadow on his upper lip. Not so much like he needs a shave, more like someone should probably teach him to shave. The shorter guy tries on a Rolex with a brown face. The taller guy passes on the Rolexes.

Honestly, I'm more of an AP kind of guy. I was looking at this silver one right here.

Yeah. AP, Audemars Piguet. Ultra luxury. They start talking prices. David, the salesman, says he's asking roughly $44,000 for the AP. And then the Rolex— this model is known as a Chocolate Stick.

I'll do $17,500. It's your first watch. I'll do $17,500 on the Chocolate Stick. Yeah. And you guys take Apple Pay, right? As long as you have your ID on you today, yeah.

ID?

I have a picture. I need a physical ID. Unless you do cash? I can spot you. I can spot you for you. I'll pay you back. No, I'll spot you. Don't worry about it.

Are they friends? Relatives? Why is one offering to spot the other? Ready to lay out, what, $60 grand without breaking a sweat? Who does that? Who are you?

My name's Grayson.

Are you a famous person?

I don't— I would— some people might say that.

I wouldn't. But how would I know? Yeah, tell me who you are.

We do e-commerce, so we sell products online. Primarily, this is This is my friend Milad. He's 17 years old and crossed his first milli, which is really impressive. So he's coming in to buy— celebrate by buying his first Rolex.

You're 17 years old? Is that why you don't have an ID?

Yeah, pretty much.

I don't know what crossed his first milli means, but I did learn that Milad is from Afghanistan. He emigrated with his family to Virginia and then dropped out of school at 15 to do e-commerce full-time. And he's made so much money his parents no longer have to work. That's what he told me. He'd never met Grayson in person before, but they'd been working together to sell stuff online through Shopify. Grayson's 26. He told me he was the financial forecasting guy and that Milad is the brand owner. What is the brand? What do you make?

Don't tell them. You're going to go to jail. Remember, we talked about this last night. Oh, number-wise?

No, like, what is it that you sell? Well, you tell me.

Supplements. Just say you sell supplements.

The things that you eat?

Yeah, dietary. Dietary supplements.

I don't understand. All of this sounds shady to me. But no one else seems concerned. Maybe if you're used to it's only money kind of money, then anything is possible. Including risking a loss of 2 grand for kicks, which is what happens next. David, the salesman, says he'll sell the AP for $42,000. Grayson, a little sheepishly, offers $40,000. David's 22. He's fairly new here. He calls over a more knowledgeable colleague, Ankur, who's also 22. But Ankur's worked here for 4 years already, so he's the senior salesman in this scenario. He tells Grayson $40,000 is kind of low.

You are lowballing though, okay? I know, I know. That's what I said. All right, this is complete, by the way. I know, I know. This is complete.

Box, papers.

I don't know if you saw the condition on this. It's really, really nice. No, I didn't see it. I tried it on already. Uh, I'll do this. You want to get a flip action going? A coin flip? You want to do a flip? Want to have some fun while you're in New York?

Flip a coin for the final price. If it's heads, Grayson pays $40,000. Tails, he pays $42,000. I'm good with that, says Grayson.

I'm good with that.

Yeah?

Fucking run it.

They locate a quarter, not always easy in this economy. Up it goes.

$42,000. Oh, shit.

Good job. Good job.

Thank you, guys.

Ankur tells Grayson he himself bought the watch for $39,000, a good price.

Yeah, when you sell it back to me, you're going to be completely fine, actually. Well, actually, I was thinking, like, because I want to— I want to probably upgrade in, like, next 6 months, so I'll probably buy another one, trade it back to you. So— Yeah, that's a good deal.

He's going to upgrade in 6 months. Ankur says he'd buy it back for $38,000 or $37,000, and he offers to put that on the invoice. They go up to the mezzanine to wait while the sale gets finalized. They sit on the red furniture. A 26-year-old palling around New York City with his 17-year-old business associate, buying fancy watches for as much money as an average person makes in a whole year. In this building, nothing is strange about that, which is why Grayson seems totally relaxed here. He doesn't ponder the difference between real New York and a performance of New York. He grew up, he tells me, in northern Idaho. Lower middle class, homeschooled, 7 siblings, adores his dad. family. He called them very, very good, God-fearing, cornbread Americans. And boy, does he love New York.

New York is the best place in the entire world, without shadow of a doubt. I mean, I couldn't— I think the better question is, what could you say that's not the best reason? It's the best food, best place, best people. You can get in an elevator with somebody that could be the most influential person in the world or could be the most influential person to you at that right moment. And I don't think I've ever found somewhere that embodies the American spirit better than New York City, ever. If you've never been here and you've been thinking about coming to New York, just do it. Buy the ticket. Don't look back. You know?

Maybe it's because he's 26, or maybe it's because he's from Idaho, but he's sure you'll get a good return on your investment in New York. Luck is waiting for you here. As if to prove his point, Max, the owner of Tracks NYC, arrives on the mezzanine, walking quickly, slightly stooped, dark hair swept back from his face, like he's moving against a perpetual headwind. He later told me, I'll come to work, it's like going to war. Grayson is a fan. He knows Max from years of watching his YouTube videos. Max throwing stacks of cash into the street, or running over jewelry with his car, or asking people to guess the value of a solid gold banana. He gives away thousands and thousands of dollars in these marketing antics. Part of the fun is watching people refuse to play because they cannot believe it's for real. Now, Grayson and Milad get a chance to pay their respects, like a surprise audience with the Don.

I'm grateful for your business. How much these boys spent here?

Uh, $58,000.

$58,000? I got a special gift for you. You guys can come back here. No way.

Max bestows gifts like this all day long.

So these are silver dollars from 1887.

Grayson thanks Max for his integrity.

Trax is the only honest dealer in the Diamond District. Hey, listen, I hope I'm not the only one. That would be a problem. I think it's less than you think, brother.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're gonna try to keep it going. We're gonna try to make you proud, brother. All right? I appreciate it.

Just 2 honest brokers having a moment. After the break, these 2 will cross paths again, and it won't be quite so chummy. Max wields a guru's power in the office. Once upon a time, he was like a lot of the staff he's now surrounded by— barely adult, foreign, and winging it. Max, Maxoud Agajani, is originally from Baku, Azerbaijan. His family came to the US as Jewish refugees when he was a little kid. He turned 7 in Rego Park, Queens, where he still lives. He told me his family was more or less middle class in Baku, but once they got here, his parents fought about money all the time, and he hated it. He had the wrong clothes and the wrong shoes.

Yeah, I had plenty of friends. I made a lot of friends, but I never felt comfortable. I never felt comfortable because I wanted to have money. You know what I'm saying? I didn't feel comfortable without money.

School wasn't going to be his way out. He could not for the life of him do his homework. He would just draw swirls in his notebook. I have an issue, he said. At 18, as soon as he graduated high school, he bought a digital camera and started photographing jewelry to sell online.

And by the grace of God alone did that skill help me build a jewelry business. If that didn't happen, then I wouldn't have had a jewelry business because that's the only real talent that I actually have. That and communicating with my staff.

His sales staff is mostly men, and as I've mentioned, young. By design. First of all, they cost less, but also they're part of his 5-year plan. He's going to take this ragtag squadron of youths, some of whom have come straight from the soft nests of their parents, and mold them into a money-making team. They'll be the wolf pups of 47th Street.

I gotta propagandize these young people to be productive people that work in an actual group, okay? You have, you have to fight against, uh, whatever the hell everyone else is telling them. And once they, they, you know, experience that and it works for them, then they believe in the propaganda. So that's just really what I have to do. I have to create that reality for them, you know? Yeah. So let's start the meeting off with Justin. What you got for us, Justin? You got any news for us?

The afternoon staff meeting is when I see it in action. The character building, let's call it. And spinning red light here, the language is about to get spicy/offensive. So fair warning. We're up on the 14th floor where Max has an office. We all squeeze in, 6 employees and me. And within seconds, really—

So your, uh, your edit didn't do so well from the weekend, man.

He's laying into Justin, a 24-year-old from Missouri, thin as a rail but very tall. The video was a 3-card monte giveaway thing where people were supposed to guess which box had an ounce of gold in it. It didn't get much traction. Max asks Justin, why didn't you use the other camera angle? Where is it?

I had it, but I was clearing off some storage 'cause I ran out of storage on my computer. So, I'll have to—

I have it on his computer, though.

He has more storage 'cause of terror. Right. He has storage on his computer. Didn't you film it on a phone? Uh, yeah, but it was on the— it was on Eamon's phone. Do you have it? So, if it's on Eamon's phone, why don't you say it's on Eamon's phone so we can look for it? I forgot for a second. Ah, man, bro, this is fucking ridiculous, bro, with this fucking guy. I forgot what— that it's on a fucking phone, bro. What are we doing here, dude? Yeah, that's the number one thing you don't want to hear in business. I forgot. Fucking bullshit, bro.

Justin's been working here for less than a year. And how he ended up here, holy cow. He's originally from Sudan, and he got hired because he made this video defending Max against allegations that he supported blood diamond mining in Sierra Leone. And after that, Justin asked for a job, and Max sent him $3,000. And against the better judgment of his skeptical parents, Justin bought a plane ticket to New York, where he'd never been, found an apartment on Craigslist, and now he's getting yelled at on tape.

What happened with Justin, and you know what I'm saying, to be completely blunt, he just took the lazy fucking route and didn't do shit. And you know what I'm saying?

Pretty much the only people Justin knows in this city are right here in this office. He's not had time to make friends. Max takes a breather on Justin, turns to Eamon, who sells grills. Eamon hands over his phone with the second camera angle to Max so he can watch it.

And this motherfucker's on zero battery over here.

Oh, yeah.

Jesus Christ.

I was running around, Eamon says. He was. I saw him zipping around all morning.

You know what I'm saying? It's not hard. You fucking go to sleep like a fucking conscious person. You plug in your fucking phone. You wake up, you're ready to go. That's all. I don't want to be sitting here scrolling. The phone's about to die, bro. There's mad angles here of the guy's face.

Eamon's 20. He's worked here on and off since he was 16, 17. His fingernails are bitten right down to the flesh. And yes, he tells me, people have cried in these meetings. Eamon's cried in these meetings. But he used to play baseball, and he's used to being chewed out by the coach. He doesn't take it personally. And P.S., his phone was at about 70% when he got to work that day, he said. Max will slide in and out of various topics during this meeting. He'll record a quick voiceover for a video. He'll praise Emma for the hot-selling engagement ring she designed. Daniel's on point, executing every time. That's business. Mickey, Swaroop, consistent. But his leitmotif will be Justin's disappointing video as an example of what is not business. Excuses, not business.

This happened, that happened, then what happened?

Brutality aside, I find Max's speech mesmerizing.

You left, you came back. It was this, it was that. It was nephews, it was Sam. It was here, it was there. Never got done.

It was this, it was that. It was here, it was there. Shuffling and buffling. Tchotchkes and schmotchkes. The pearls, the schmerls. The clippings, the schmippings. Twitching and ditching. Max swings and he rhymes. But inside the bullying poetry of reprimand, he is telling them, you guys can do this. If you need proof, you're looking right at him. Your reality is me.

I forgot is not a sentence that should be uttered in a business. I forgot is for drug addicts and bums. That's what I forgot is for. I also forget. I forget my keys, I forget some shit when I'm high. Okay? That's just the reality of the situation. That's what it's for. For bums. My shit is this, my shit is that, my shit is here, my shit is at 4%. I left the phone back there. I did that. I don't give a fuck about none of that shit. I don't want to have nothing to do with it. Do yourselves a fucking favor and have the business discipline of being ready to go every fucking day. I understand you come home and you have a bunch of bums around you. I understand that, bro. It is what it is. Don't let that shit rub off on you so it could rub off on me. That's it. I don't want to be around bums, man. I'm fucking almost 40 years old, bro.

Before most of these guys were hired, Max had a bunch of people around him who turned out to be untrustworthy, he told me. People stole from him, betrayed him. Unlike so many Diamond District businesses, Max doesn't have any family working with him. On this block, where for the better part of a century, fathers have been teaching their sons the business and then handing it over, Max did it solo, scraped and hustled and built this brand, which just doubled its sales last month. Max has no children, no family of his own. It's lonely up here at the top.

All of you are fucking strangers. None of you are my family. None of you— Diamond Heritage is this fucker and his son, and Akai is 2 brothers and a dad. The Landlord's cousins and fucking in-laws and their father. Simon Brothers are brothers. Prestige Brothers are fucking brothers. I'm here by my fucking self, bro. With a bunch of strangers, it's a different game. I gotta pick the right strangers, bro. I gotta pick the right strangers.

Who's with me? Who's gonna stay with me? Toward the end of the meeting, Max casually mentions that moving forward, some people are gonna have a job and some people I need to really think about carefully. He ends it with the most dreaded question of all, which he puts to Justin.

Do you, um, like this, uh, job? Do you like this company?

After 77 minutes, it's over.

New York Times, any final thoughts for us? No.

I'm glad I charged my phone.

Yeah. All right, good. If you want some water or anything like that, get her a bottle of Fiji or something, man.

No, no, I'm good. I'm good. I have water. Thank you.

Okay.

Everyone goes back to work. My first thought was that I couldn't believe he'd let me tape what had just happened. My second thought was maybe what had just happened was actually meant for me. A performance.

Was that an interesting meeting? Fascinating.

Fascinating.

I have so many questions. All right.

The main one is like, were you actually mad or are you not mad?

I'm mad.

Okay.

That's not as mad as I usually get, but I'm— I could be mad. Yeah, mad. I mean, listen, you cannot be relaxing and wishing upon a star in this country.

But wait, isn't your business booming like crazy?

Your acting life is— Why do you think it's booming?

I don't— 'cause you're mad?

Because I'm pressing the issue and I'm pushing it forward. I'm not satisfied with the lowest common denominator.

If his employees are rattled by the way he talks, then this isn't the job for them. Fuck their feelings, he said. Get to work. All that happened on a Friday. On Monday morning, I checked back in first thing with the trainees upstairs, Shivani and Ray. They were busy trying to make their numbers and politely asked me to get out of their faces. So I wandered back to the red furniture where I was surprised to see Grayson, the guy who bought the AP watch for $42K on Friday.

You're back.

I am.

I'm selling a watch today.

You're kidding.

No, I'm not.

The same one?

The same one.

Come on.

I didn't like the silver.

No, you're kidding. You're selling that watch?

I am, yeah. I didn't like the silver. We're gonna look out to see if they can find me a gold one, but— Silver doesn't work for me.

Isn't a gold one going to be so much more money?

Yeah, like probably double. Yeah. But it looks cooler.

The gold one, he said, would be a gift for his twin brother. I asked what he was waiting for, and he and the salesman, David, explained that they were getting the watch checked out by Eddie across the street at the Watch Hospital, which is a little booth in another gallery. I'd been over there earlier. Every watch that Tracks NYC buys, they get it checked out. Even if it's a watch they've bought before, like this one. Just due diligence to make sure it hasn't been tampered with.

Not that— not that I would ever do something like that, but it's not uncommon. I've heard in stories that people will buy a watch, go swap it out for a fake one, and try to bring it back in. Which obviously I wouldn't do something like that, but it's just procedure.

I'd heard about this too. People will pop out the movement, the mechanical part of the watch, swap it for a fake, and then try to resell it as the original. David pipes in. It's just procedure to have it checked, he says. It's not that I don't trust him. I trust him fully. Grayson says, uh-huh. And anyway, he's pretty sure Eddie the watch doctor would easily catch a fake movement.

I'm sure there's a couple dead giveaways and he just looks for those. And if it's good, he closes it back up. I would imagine at least, you know.

Pending an all clear from Eddie, Tracks NYC has agreed to buy back the silver AP for $37,000, which means in the span of a few days, Grayson is out $5,000 on this deal. He told me he didn't bother to haggle. Later that afternoon, I go upstairs to the 14th floor to interview Max some more. But as we're sitting there talking, Max's general manager comes to the door. He says, sorry to interrupt, but we've got a little problem with a watch.

So what happened to it? We sold it to the guy basically on Friday. He came back today. Trying to sell it to us back for like $5,000 less. Right.

A couple other salespeople come in too. I quickly realize they're talking about Grayson.

Now, before buying it back, we did due diligence and we checked the watch.

Right.

It's coming out fake. So he basically brought us back fake parts. So the movement is real? So he mix and matched fake and real parts. Ah, okay. So—

They're saying they think he Frankensteined the watch and that now he's trying to scam them by selling it back.

So basically, one, we have a few options. So if one of them, they want to go with it, to just tell the guy to, you know, we're not gonna buy it.

Yeah.

So it appears that he has some social media following as well.

So it might— Yeah, totally.

We could go to war over it.

We could go to war over it, Max says. He doesn't ask to see any paperwork. Doesn't ask to look at the watch itself. He's not gonna investigate. His lieutenants are telling him they believe it's been tampered with. That's enough for him. He instantly records a preemptive strike.

Okay, so let's just do it right now. Let me just record it. And this is a real reality of life right here that we have to deal with. All right, um, let's see how we're gonna do this. We sold a real watch, and now this guy is trying to return a fake one. Well, he's in for a fucking surprise, all right? Me and the boys are on it. What did you learn about this watch, Umit? It's fake. We sold him an authentic, genuine watch, and now We're buying it back. It's fake watch. It's not the same watch we sold. It's aftermarket but original movement.

It's Frankenstein.

Within 4 days, he was okay with taking a $5,000 hit, which is pretty ridiculous. He didn't argue about it. He's just taking the hit and wants us to wire him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Listen, listen.

I don't know who the fuck you are. Fuck right off, bro. Okay?

Someone reminds Max, you met this guy. Remember? He bought a Rolex for his friend. Max doesn't remember, which isn't surprising. He meets so many strangers. But I remember Mr. I Love New York. They called each other brother, and Grayson said Trax NYC was the only honest dealer in the Diamond District. I was stunned. I mean, assuming it was true that Grayson had done this. So brazen. We'd just been lounging in the mezzanine lounge talking about how sometimes scammers will swap out the movement of a watch. I'm sure there are a couple of of dead giveaways, he'd said. Not that I'd ever do something like that. And apparently he hadn't done that. He'd, again, allegedly, done the opposite. Instead of the innards being fake, these guys were saying the outards were fake. The watch case wasn't original. They explained that when Eddie at the Watch Hospital checked the movement, as Grayson knew he would, it was real. It's just that the rest of the watch didn't seem to be. Encore, the salesman, told me Eddie had caught the tiny differences people don't usually check for. But for Grayson to discuss it at all, with a reporter, on tape, at Tracks NYC, the one place in the Diamond District where the smart money says the owner might go ballistic— how had Grayson kept his cool?

I couldn't believe it.

What the heck?

I went back downstairs to see how they're going to handle this. Grayson had already left the building, so now they have to call him. They decide they're not going to accuse him of anything. And that young David's going to be the one to make the call since he was the salesman on this deal. He's nervous. Marcus, a sales manager at Encore, gives him some pointers. Don't be rude. Don't let him force you to explain.

I'm not going to give him an explanation. And don't let him rage beat you into giving him, like, a reason. Yeah, just tell him the company doesn't want to buy the watch. Uh, is that— I'm gonna say— Because there's no— regardless if anyone tries to fuck us, there's no reason to be a dickhead, you know? Just tell him, hey, say, hey bro, we just— and we are well within our rights, by the way.

Yeah, I'm not—

no, I know, because we final sealed it. Let's get it.

Let's get this over with.

Y'all want on speaker? Sure, I don't care. This is such like very—

Hey bro, please leave your message for— damn, it's around 6 PM now. and the showroom is closed to customers. David tries calling Grayson again. Grayson finally calls back.

It's not something we're really interested in buying at the moment.

David keeps his voice even, tells Grayson the deal is off. He can come by anytime and pick it up.

This is a little bit over my head. And like I said, this is just what I've been told.

Eventually, he hands the phone to Marcus.

Hello, this is Marcus with Traxxas NYC. How may I assist? Hey, what's up, brother? How are you?

I predicted Grayson would immediately crumble. I was wrong.

No, we're just— we're just declining.

We're— They weren't telling Grayson what they really thought. And they weren't going to post Max's video. Because they wanted to avoid a protracted back and forth about what was true and what was false and what was real and what was fake. This way, they can just skip all that. And tell him we're under no obligation to buy back the watch. We're simply exercising that non-obligation. Marcus is firm but polite as the conversation drags on. In the pauses, we can all hear Max behind them shooting a bracelet ad with a blonde model named Christina, who's also a Marine sergeant at a nearby base.

Okay, I understand how you feel. You can schedule the time to come in with David. Um, that will not be a problem. It'll be here in the showroom.

He hung up. I realized, not proudly, that I was a little disappointed, that I was actually hoping for a showdown, not just because it might have been exciting tape, but because now I was craving the adrenaline hit of street justice, for someone to yell into the phone, you're busted, sucker! Instead, they'd been so controlled, all of them. When David passed over the call to Marcus, I'd heard him mutter, this is fucking me up.

I mean, the best way to put it is I'm a 22-year-old guy. So far in my life, I've— I've only argued with my mom, my girlfriend, and maybe some of my friends. You know, I've had to give bad news before to clients, but this is something a little bit different. You know, it doesn't just come down to, you know, I'm mad at my mom or I'm mad at my friend or they're mad at me. It comes down to, well, this is real-world stuff. This is, this is a lot of money. Okay, let's try that one more time.

The real world is full of sharks and conflict and people trying to take money from each other. That's the world David's learning to survive in. The world of Max. By now, I'd accepted what another employee told me, that the Max I met is the real Max. That 22 years on this tough block in this tough business molded him into Max the persona, inseparable now from Max the person. So yeah, that was Max in the video, performing himself. Mad as a hornet, real as can be. On the other hand, I'd just seen David and Marcus in Encore pull an anti-Max, solve a problem with aggressive good manners, the kind of fakery that greases civil society, where I prefer to live most of the time. The staff unlocked the door for me, and I started walking back to the office. Before I'd even gotten to the corner of 47th I got a text from Grayson. You know what's crazy? he wrote. I asked neutral questions, as if I had no idea what was going on. Faking it, in effect. He explained the whole thing. Yeah, just surprising to see lack of integrity from that store, he wrote.

I guess I should have seen it coming. I do not know what really happened with this watch. Grayson did go pick it up, he later told me. He claims he never tampered with it. He sold it, in fact, to a watch dealer in Texas, who says he sold it to another dealer in Miami. So far, no complaints, as far as I know.

Listen.

This episode of Metro was produced by Janelle Peifer and edited by Julie Snyder. The producing team behind Metro includes Brendan Klinkenberg, Alvin Meleth, Daniel Gimetz, Corey Kilgannon, Ben Phelan, Phoebe Wang, Jen Guerra, Jessica Weisberg, Anita Bathejo, Katherine Anderson, Abby Perpich, Mac Miller, Andrea Lopez-Cruzado, Matt Nadel, and Walter Snyder. Nikita Stewart is editor of The New York Times Metro Desk. As we get this thing rolling, we would love it if you would help us get the word out. Follow the show on your podcast platform, or favorite it, or even comment on it if you're nice. Also, please come find us on our social media platforms. Search Serial Productions on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. We're going to be posting callouts for stories, stories we hope to make with you, the listeners. Again, search for Serial or Serial Productions, and you'll find us. Special thanks to the many people who've helped get this show off the ground. Jessica Testa, Maddie Maciello, Kyle Grandillo, Nina Lassam, Blake Olmsted, Kelly Doe, Bill Ferguson, Pierre-Antoine Louis, Tyler Cabot, Zoe Murphy, Mahima Chablaney, Reina Desai, Elizabeth Bristow, Dana Green, Jack Browning, Simone Prokus, Susan Wessling, and Sam Dolnick. Metro is a production of Serial Productions and The New York Times.