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The Beverly Hills pawn show
Ed Harris13.11.08
EVEN Beverly Hills is feeling the chill as the cold winds of the financial crisis blow across the globe.
In Los Angeles, a town where displays of conspicuous wealth are the norm, the pawn-broking business is booming. As this picture shows, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Bentleys are among the toys of the wealthy that have been pawned as times get tough.
The South Beverly Wilshire Jewellery and Loan is making a killing from the difficulties of residents in this most affluent suburb of Los Angeles.
More than 60 top-of-the-range cars have been handed into the business known as the pawnshop of the rich and famous. Among the items on sale are a $2.7million necklace and any number of Rolls-Royces, BMWs and Ferraris.
Owner Yossi Dina, a former Israeli commando, has rarely been busier - business has tripled in the last six months. He does not deal in trinkets of the usual pawn-broker: there are no old cameras or cheap watches and jewellery here. Items he has shifted include an E Type Jaguar, a 1929 Georges Braque painting, 14th-century Chinese jade and vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre watches.
Mr Dina has also handled the contents of an elderly movie star's wine cellar.
Typically, he gives the person pawning the item about 60 per cent of its value.
"I don't take electricity or garbage," he said. "I take good collateral. Usually I take jewellery."
He will also take an original Tiffany lamp, a first-edition book or a letter from Greta Garbo - anything that is highly sought-after or has an appealing resale value.
The man with a reputation as perhaps the best pawnbroker in America has even held an Oscar for best picture -although Mr Dina has never revealed the identity of the owner. That sort of boasting could ruin the business.
As the financial crisis deepens, his Aladdin's cave is likely to remain supremely well-stocked.
