Inside the pawn shop where the 1% unloads its Rolexes and Birkin bags

The New York Loan Company sells items like $30,000 Hermès Birkin bags and fine jewelry.
Its professional staff and tight security make it unlike any other pawn shop experience.
They promise their clients absolute confidentiality.

The New York Loan Company isn't your typical pawn shop. Your fingerprint must be taken before you can access the front door. In the front hall hangs a portfolio of prints by John Baldessari, worth $90,000.

Located in Manhattan's Diamond District, in Midtown, the building in which the pawn shop is located — the International Gem Tower — has more than a few valuables inside.

"All the floors in this building have had to be reinforced because of the vaults in all the different offices," Eleanor Walper, a loan officer and in-house gemologist for the company, said to Business Insider.

At the New York Loan Company, customers can sell valuable belongings, purchase others' goods at a discount, or get a short-term loan using their items as collateral.

Inside, you'll find items like $30,000 Hermès Birkin bags, double-digit-karat diamonds, Super Bowl rings, Emmy and Golden Globe trophies, high-end fine wines, and framed Andy Warhol pieces. Other high-end items that the company holds as collateral are kept in a vault, inside of a vault, at an undisclosed location.

Below are the items that are for immediate sale — either because they were purchased from a client, or as Walper put it, the client has "chosen to walk away from" them.

The New York Loan Company is located in the Diamond District and feels more like an office than a pawn shop.

For-sale jewelry is kept on rotating stands behind a glass case.

The John Baldessari portfolio of prints hanging in the hallway is worth $90,000.

Clients meet in a proper office while having their items evaluated and priced. "Unlike other pawn shops, we're more professional. We sit at desks, not behind glass windows," Walper said. Framed Andy Warhol pieces hang on the walls.

Walper pulled out a few of the company's higher-priced pieces that are currently available to purchase, including this Rolex GMT II. Often referred to as the "Batman" or the "Bruiser," this is a dual-time-zone watch that retails for $9,200. The New York Loan Company is selling it for $7,000.

The Hermès Birkin handbags, which were recently touted as a better investment than gold, usually cost several tens of thousands of dollars. Though it typically sells for upwards of $30,000, this orange ostrich skin bag is being sold for about $20,000. The black is generally $12,000 to $15,000 at retail price, but the pawn shop is selling this one for $8,500.

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This blue sapphire flower brooch with diamonds and pearls is $32,000.

This gold watch has a mother-of-pearl face and is lined with diamonds and a ruby bezel. It's a ladies' "DateJust" that retails for $23,000, though it's selling here for $6,000.

This emerald stone ring is $30,000.

The yellow ring here is a large, radiant-cut diamond valued at $22,000.

This necklace and earring set is from Seaman Schepps. The earrings alone are around $3,300.

While Walper noted that the company has never revealed the name of a client, she did say that many work on Wall Street. "Discretion is one of the cruxes of our business. If we lose that, no one will want to come to us," she said.

Inside the pawn shop where the 1% unloads its Rolexes and Birkin bags

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