Tomorrow night at 10 p.m. EST, CNBC will premiere a new series titled Streets of Dreams With Marcus Lemonis, and the first episode will center on New York City’s Diamond District. Conceived in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (and produced by the same team), the show has Lemonis—CEO, entrepreneur, and host of CNBC’s The Profit—traveling across the country to highlight the stories of the entrepreneurs and unique business cultures that define America’s most iconic streets.
As for the JCK cameo, blink and you’ll miss it: A glimpse of this article flashes across the screen about 20 or so minutes in, revealing news director Rob Bates’ byline (and one of his trademark attention-grabbing headlines).
No doubt 47th Street is a great place for Lemonis to start his adventure (other streets will include Music Row in Nashville, Tenn.; Miami’s Calle Ocho; and the Green Mile in Denver).
I’ve screened the episode, and it’s well put-together. It also elucidates how diamonds are priced and sold within the trade, and then sold to the public, in a really effective—and transparent—way. Because Lemonis is an outsider and asks an outsider’s questions, I believe the episode could serve as a fantastic crash course for a consumer trying to make sense of the diamond-buying guides they’re reading online.
Included in the episode is a visit to the Diamond Dealers Club of New York, where viewers get to meet Reuven Kaufman (president of the Diamond Dealers Club at the time of the show’s filming; the new president is Elliot Krischer). Other featured names of note: veteran diamond dealer Fishel Beigel, of Rick Shatz Inc.; Richie Nektalov, aka Richie Rich; the female founders of Shiffon Co. jewelry; and Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds. There is also a rather candid interview with Martin Rapaport himself.
Our most recent dramatization of life in the Diamond District was Uncut Gems, and many in our community thought it was rubbish; those detractors are likely to find the Lemonis-CNBC take a far more accurate portrait.
In any event, excited to hear what everyone thinks.
Top: Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC’s The Profit, made his fortune in the camping and RV business, but he peels back the curtain on the diamond business in the premiere episode of his new show, Streets of Dreams (all photos: Ralph Bavaro/CNBC)
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