Moshe Haimoff may now be known for his expansive social media following, luxury watch business, and roster of celebrity clients, but the path to becoming New York City’s “watch king” is just as remarkable.
Haimoff was raised in the city’s haredi community; his evolution into an entrepreneur and social media personality was anything but predictable. With limited secular education and minimal exposure to the outside world, Orthodox Judaism shaped his very understanding of life and himself. So at age 22, what made him step outside the safe bubble he’d always known? A Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
Haimoff told The Jerusalem Report that he had often been warned that such a confection could be deadly. “They would tell us, ‘If you eat it, you’re going to die,’” he said.
The warning didn’t add up for him or his twin brother. “I said, ‘Bro, it’s impossible that the whole world is eating this and they’re still living, and we’re going to die if we eat it. I want to try it,’” he recounted.
Even so, testing his theory was no small matter. It meant risking his life, or so he had been taught, just to taste the candy.
“We went to the store. We got one, and my brother tried it first because he had more guts than me,” Haimoff continued. “And when I saw that nothing happened to him, and nothing happened to me after I ate it, I started questioning myself, ‘What’s all this about? What’s the point? What are they getting at?’”
That small act of defiance sparked years of questions and doubt for Haimoff. “I started saying a lot of things. It’s not bad, but it just wasn’t for me, but nothing against it. If that’s what makes them happy, that’s what brings them closer to the creator, then fine, do your thing. My whole thing was just don’t force it upon other people,” he said.
By 22, with no job and few prospects, he entered the diamond industry, earning only a couple of hundred dollars a week. Lacking optimism about his future, friends began noticing his growing depression and aimlessness. Then came a turning point: A friend offered to teach him the watch business…for $50,000.
Despite the steep price, Haimoff went all in. His first move was buying an $11,000 watch and selling it for $11,800.
“I got hooked,” he explained. “I said ‘It’s all gonna do for the rest of my life.’
“I was infatuated with the watch – the way the watches are, the way they feel, the way they look. It was my hobby. That was my passion. So apparently, bless God, it worked out. Took a long time, but it worked out.”
That dedication quickly paid off. But as fast as he earned his money, he lost it. He developed a gambling addiction that cost him his home, his possessions, and left him a million dollars in debt. He ended up living on the street.
But rather than give up, he became even more determined to reclaim his former status. He learned from his mistakes, entered rehab, and committed to years of intensive therapy. In time, he regained both his wealth and control over his life.
Secret to success
Although Haimoff left the haredi community, during his journey he never abandoned Hashem, crediting God for his success. When asked how he had managed to succeed against the odds, he replied, “Praying to God every day, every day, every day. I don’t forget where I came from. I don’t forget that there’s always God, who comes first.”
He also emphasized that “dedication and giving back to others, helping others, being there for others, educating others” was a key factor in his prosperity. “That’s what I think made us a little bit more successful than we anticipated… it’s been a great journey. It’s been a very, very bumpy ride, some addiction to rehab, to therapy, to losing all my money and coming back from all this, but thank God that there is a reason, a plan for everything. And as you get older, as you look back at time, you see why everything is happening.”
That same trust in God and understanding of what’s important in life helped him stay calm last month when he was attacked outside his home and robbed of jewelry worth more than $500,000.
On July 23, as he was leaving his home, a man wearing a construction jacket and mask attacked him with a taser. Haimoff tried to run back inside to grab a camera and capture evidence of the robbery, but the shock had left his leg numb, and he fell down. At that moment, a second man arrived, and together the two thieves fled with his jewelry.
Asked how he was recovering from the incident, Haimoff replied that he “put his faith in God…That day, He was protecting me extra. I could have been killed. Something worse could have happened.
“Thank God that I’m alive. I’m still here, and we’re still going, we’re still going to go harder than ever. We’re still going to push. It’s not going to stop us from anything. It’s material stuff; it can always be replaced. Life is precious, so I’m thankful for that. Thankful for another chance in life, to make the best out of it.”
Despite still having a strong relationship with God, Haimoff said he couldn’t see himself moving to the Holy Land any time soon. While that is partially because he is enjoying his life in the big city, even with the recent robbery. He said his style of salesmanship wouldn’t work in the pushy shuk culture of Israeli retail.
“I educate before I sell something. So I’m not here to make a sale. I’m here to build a family relationship. We become family. We become close friends. We talk every single day. I educate you. I tell you, ‘Buy this. Don’t buy that. It’s not worth the money. This is worth the money,’” he explained, talking about how he runs his business.
Despite dealing in watches worth tens of thousands of dollars, he still prefers the old-fashioned business practice of a handshake and a solid reputation.
His three rules for business are: believe in God every single day; be humble; and always keep your word.
“If you say you’re going to do something, you do it no matter what,” he instructed. “If you lose money, you do it because you said you’re going to do it. Your word is your bond. We don’t have contracts in our business. We deal with millions of dollars in merchandise. There’s no contract.
“You know what mazal means in Hebrew, right? It means ‘luck.’ Based on that word, we trust each other with millions of dollars of merchandise that we’re going to pay or come through. So always, always, always, keep your word,” he stressed.
While that trust has certainly served him well, given his flourishing business, it has not come without its burns. However, he maintains that even with the betrayals that come as part of that style of business, it is the only strategy he could abide by, and even the losses can be wins.
If someone takes advantage of the jeweler’s trust, “you just don’t work with the person anymore. It very rarely happens. But if it does happen, then it’s a mistake. You learn. I didn’t go to college. So I always told myself, ‘If I lose $50,000, it’s like I went to school and learned the lesson. I got a degree in knowing how to not get screwed anymore,’” he said.
“It’s an expensive lesson, but it’s a career,” he added. “It teaches you discipline. It teaches you how to heal people. It costs a lot of money. This thing unfortunately comes out of your pocket too, but it’s a lesson that you have to pay sometimes.”
Asked what advice he had as someone who created a business and life for himself despite the odds being stacked against him, he said, “Never give up on your dreams. That’s all. Always believe in God, and thank God every single day.”■