Hollywood’s Watch-U-Want makes its mark in world of timepieces
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WATCH FOR LUXURY: Among the high-end watches the company sells is this pre-owned Richard Mille “Flyback Chrono,” which carries a $79,995 price tag and has a warranty and a titanium case. WATCH-U-WANT
WATCH-U-WANT
Company headquarters: Hollywood
CEO: O.J. Whatley
President: Shannon Beck
Incorporated: 2001
Employees: 21
Annual revenues: $15 million
Watch brands sold: Panerai, Audemars Piguet, Bell & Ross, Blancpain, Breitling, Bulgari, Cartier, Chopard, Corum, Dewitt, Franck Muller, Girard-Perregaux, Hublot, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Rolex, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron, Zenith
Contact information: 954-961-1445;
www.watchuwant.com; eBay ID: watch-u-want
BY SIOBHAN MORRISSEY
SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
O.J. Whatley owes a lot to Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. They helped him purchase his first Rolex and eventually led to his founding Watch-U-Want, a Hollywood company that bills itself as the “largest purchaser and reseller of the highest quality preowned luxury watches and timepieces worldwide.”
“He is one of the main big boys,” says Joe Accar of Accar Limited, the Miami-based jeweler who buys from and sells to Watch-U-Want more than $100,000 worth of watches every year.
What began as a bedroom business for Whatley in 1999 has expanded to a company with 21 employees, including an in-house certified master watchmaker to make repairs, a quality control department dedicated to ensuring the watches are clean and in good working order, and a photographer who highlights the assets of each watch for the company’s predominantly internet clientele. According to Whatley, his sales team racks up $15 million in annual revenue and has a client list that includes celebrities and CEOs, including Doc McGhee, who managed KISS, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe.
It all started when O.J. — whose initials stand for Orin Judd — appeared on Wheel of Fortune back in 1989, back when he was a freshman at the University of Miami. The clue was “Fictional Characters.” It took him a little more than two minutes and seven spins to identify the Mark Twain characters and figure out the puzzle.
“You didn’t make it a secret when you figured out what it was,” Pat Sajak said, laughing at Whatley’s fist pumps and whoop. “You went mildly bananas out here. But that’s good. You deserve to.”
Whatley had just won $2,400 in cash and a $4,500 gift certificate to a Beverly Hills jewelry store, where he later purchased two stainless steel Rolex Submariner watches — one for himself, the other for his father, Bob. Each Rolex cost $2,100 at the time.
“Interestingly enough, I could sell that watch right now for five grand,” Whatley said. “Which is really interesting, because at the time, I could have bought the Tag Heuer Sports Elegance Link Watch for the same kind of money, around $2,100. And that watch today is worth about 500 bucks.” The Sports Elegance had a band that looked like a jigsaw puzzle and was considered the “Holy Grail” for college students to own, he said, “but instead I got the Rolex, because I just felt like it was a cooler watch, less fashion and more like a watch that I could have for the rest of my life.”
While fully aware of his Rolex watch’s value as a commodity, he maintains that it retains far greater sentimental value. As a buyer of luxury watches for the past quarter century, Whatley is well aware that watches not only mark time, but also the special occasions in life.
Both he and his father still own their Wheel of Fortune watches, and Bob loves to look down at his as he tells strangers how his son eventually went on to win another $10,000 — and the game. He was a hairsbreadth away from driving away in a red convertible BMW — if only he could fill in the remaining blanks on the bonus puzzle:
D-A-_ D-R-E-A-_ -_ N-_ .
While Wheel of Fortune helped him purchase his first serious watches, Whatley says he was always interested in watches, even as a young boy.
“I remember growing up, I used to love the Star Wars watches — the R2D2, the Darth Vader helmet, the CP3O,” he says. “I wore them as necklaces. When I was 12, my mom got me a Casio Tone Watch that played Happy Birthday and Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley. There was like 13 songs it played. This was right about the time that you had the calculator watches, but the calculator watches were a little ****y for me. So, I wanted the Casio Tone Watch.”
Whatley remains on the hunt for the coolest watches, as is evident from the company store room and vault. He specializes in sports watches in the $2,500 to $12,500 range, with $8,500 being the sweet spot. Of course, if you want to splurge, there are more expensive models available.
There’s the DeWitt “Jackie Chan” watch for $79,995 (only five made, and it comes in 18-karat white gold, with a red skeleton dial, retails for $265,000); an Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars “Star Wheel 2 Faces” pocket watch for $114,995 (has a platinum case and from an edition of 50); or the Audemars Piguet AP Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph for $139,995 (a bargain, considering it retails for $225,600).
