Behind The Scenes With Online Preowned Watch Retailer Swiss Watch Expo: Half His Inventory Is Rolex

We all know what it’s like to search the internet looking for what we want. In watches, it can be particularly difficult as there are a host of options out there. Recently, I went behind the scenes with the family operated Swiss Watch Expo in Atlanta– an enlightening experience. If you are in the market for pre-owned watches, especially Rolex, this is your destination.

The physical location, where customers can visit by appointment only, is impressive. A walk around the store, with its dark walls, brick on one side for a real industrial appeal, and with long showcases filled with watches that’ll have collectors drooling, is a treat. Lined up in the center are the sales associates desks, which offers a hub of excitement. Every minute you can hear experts explaining different watch features to the customers at the other end of the phone or computer. There’s never a dull moment.

From the main showroom, visitors can see the watchmakers through a full-sized glass window wall and get a feel for the real work that goes on in there. In fact, Swiss Watch Expo is a full-service operation that includes a complete watchmaking service center fully stocked with thousands of replacement parts and all the equipment necessary to refinish/restore a timepiece to ready it for sale.

The department, headed by co-founder of SwissWatchExpo.com, Jake Rokhlin – also an engineer turned watchmaker – has state-of-the-art equipment that includes testing machines for water and pressure resistance, timing machines and more. It even has its own polishing department. Its watchmakers are predominantly from bigger brands  like Audemars Piguet and Rolex where they worked in service centers.

Sales, Stock And Growth At Swiss Watch Expo

According to Eugene Tutunikov, CEO of  the family- operated Swiss Watch Expo, the store is stocking more watches than ever, hiring more people and witnessing an increase in sales. In 2022, sales reached $80 million, up 30 percent over the previous year. “I am expecting sales of $100 million within two years”, said Tutunikov. “This year might be hard to hit that number but is possible if the global economy and demand boom in the second half of the year.” He also noted that February 2023  sales  were already up 7.5 percent over February of 2022 in terms of units. In that short 28-day month, the retailer sold 715 watches.

With one of the largest inventories of pre-owned Rolex watches in the United States, Swiss Watch Expo says its greatest number of sales by units, and the large majority of its inventory, is in Rolex – with 50 percent sales and inventory in this brand. Also important are  Cariter, Omega, Breitling, Patek Philippe, and some Audemars Piguet. But, collectors are bound to happen on almost any luxury brand they are looking for since, at any given time, the Buckhead, GA, retailer has approximately 3,000 watches in stock (and listed on the website). With turnover happening daily.

“When it is literally all your money, you are very very careful,” said Tutunikov, noting that the family owned company is very careful about the watches it buys and sells, as well as running a lean and mean organization. “The ethos and core of how we think about the business is to grow profitably. That puts us in a position even if things slow down that we don’t need to cut back on our compensation or hiring plans. To the contrary, we use the opportunity to find great people to add to the team, as well as acquire inventory at better values with higher expected margins.”

Last year alone, the company hired two new top-notch salespeople (most of whom worked previously for big-brand names), bringing the total to seven, and another watchmaker  — also bringing the total to seven. The company employs three polishers, as well, and is in the process of  hiring four more people within the company for other tasks.

Backgrounder on Swiss Watch Expo

Officially founded 14 years ago in 2009 by Tutunikov’s mother Victoria and stepfather  Rokhlin, the store had roots a few years earlier. According to Rokhlin, he and his wife started their own jewelry store in 2007 and in 2008 started selling watches online – with 60 watches in inventory. “We quickly realized that watches were the way to go and got out of jewelry. We became Swiss Watch Expo in 2009.”

“We don’t have multiple locations we are not paying for the overhead of those locations and we have  one building and ship all over the world from Singapore to Switzerland from here. And that is one reason we are so competitive on pricing. We do it all ourselves. From our computer program, to our sales, our own photography, our watchmaking, polishing and shipping,” says Tutunikov.

As to the watches, Rokhlin does all the buying himself, typically buying 100 to 200 watches at a time to get better pricing. “We won’t take any with aftermarket changes or that are over polished, or excessively worn,” says Rokhlin. “We never take anything where the serial numbers are removed and try not to buy gray market. Our strength is in pre-owned watches with light wear that we can service and turn into a beauty. I don’t want to put a lot of labor into the watch, this is how we can save time and money and we can establish our name for the quality of watches we sell.”

According to Eugene Tutunikov, who took over as CEO in 2016, after working as a trader on Wall Street, with business growing, the challenge he has now is keeping up. “We have grown so quickly in six-and-a-half years, that we need more people and we need to bring in more leadership in the  organization. We are all stretched thin and maybe beyond our areas of expertise in running the company. There is always better marketing and better branding that we could do. But we are excited about the future of the pre-owned market.”

(Portions of this article by Roberta Naas first appeared on Forbes.com)