A set of Norman Celik’s car wheels go for the same price that some people shell out for a decent used car. Granted, the people that are buying Celik’s wheels won’t be putting them on the typical sedan, minivan or pickup.

“Our wheels are put on extreme cars that cost at least $100,000,” Celik said at his 27,000-square-foot factory headquarters in Arleta. “We just did custom wheels for a $750,000 Rolls Royce.”

Celik started his career working with his family in the jewelry manufacturing industry. He’s transferred some of the embellishment and design skills he learned in the jeweler trade to his current enterprise, a company called Forgiato Designs.

Forgiato wheels start out as blocks of forged aluminum. The blocks come from a company called Aluminum Foundries Inc., which has factories in California and Indiana. The alloy is compressed in extreme pressures and temperatures much the same way a diamond is formed in the Earth to make it lightweight and durable.

Celik’s 26 employees take the blocks and carve, shape and paint the wheels to customer specifications. The wheels’ finish is applied with the same techniques that jewelers use to produce fine craftwork in a matte style.

The wheels are designed and constructed in what is called a three-part style.

“The three-part wheel is pretty common in the industry,” said Andy Goodman, business manager of the National Custom Car Association Inc., a Pennsylvania company that organizes custom car competitions. “There are a good dozen to 15 companies competing in this high-end space. The way Forgiato produces the wheel is above average. With that much competition, they need to be different.”

The company reached $13 million in revenue in 2005, its first year in business. The wheels sell from $1,300 to $3,000 each; so equipping a car can cost $5,200 to $12,000.

Forgiato manufactures about 1,200 wheels per month and they’re sold in 38 custom wheels shops around the world, including more than 15 in the United States and others in Paris, London, Moscow, Tokyo, and Dubai and Germany.

“We are wherever there are rich people,” Celik said.

In 1993, Celik and his brother, A.C., decided to give up their downtown jewelry manufacturing company, In Vogue, to go into the car business.

They purchased five used-car dealerships around East Los Angeles because A.C. is a car nut and they thought it would be a more economically advantageous business.

“The amount you invest in jewelry just doesn’t stop,” Celik said. “It can be $10 million, $20 million of materials at a time. And a huge percent of your business is between Thanksgiving and Christmas so the rest of the time it can be kind of boring.”

Fifteen or 20 years ago, many used cars didn’t get new wheels when they were traded into a dealership, but Celik found that if they did upgrade the wheels, they could demand a higher sale price for the vehicles.

He began importing tires from China to place on the cars at his dealership and soon found himself providing the same services to other dealers around Southern California.

Celik began selling his car dealerships and focusing more heavily on his imports business. He sold his last dealership in 2002.

Proving profitable

The importing company quickly proved more profitable than the dealership business: If he sold a used car for $10,000, he said he’d be lucky to make a $1,000 profit. Meanwhile, he would make $1,600 if he sold a $4,000 set of wheels.

After a few years, Celik became disappointed with the quality of cast one-piece wheels he was receiving from China and decided to become an all-domestic company producing ultra-high-end three-piece wheels.

Celik started Forgiato with the profit from selling DaVinci and his dealerships, and received an almost immediate warm reception.

However, not all of Forgiato’s innovative endeavors have been successful.

Two years ago, around the time he was starting Forgiato,

Celik was approached by a car enthusiast who pitched him

the idea of creating a transparent wheel. Celik took him up on

the challenge.

Last year, Forgiato started producing a see-through wheel called the Radurra, made of a 2-inch-thick piece of plastic polycarbonate. The visual effect was startling: The car appeared to be floating above the road.

The clear plastic was attached to the rims of the wheels under intense pressure in a process that jewelers use to set stones.

The Radurra wheels debuted in Las Vegas at the Specialty Equipment Market Association conference, one of the largest automotive specialty products trade shows. They were met with rave reviews and received a several new products awards, including mention by Sema as being the No. 1 new trend of the year.

But despite the hype, Celik decided to stop making the wheels this year, mostly because of the high price. The cost of each piece of specialized plastic the same kind used in the windows of space shuttles cost Forgiato between $2,000 and $3,000 from General Electric, and a completed wheel retailed for $5,000.

“They were cool and everything,” Celik said, “but not many people can afford to pay $20,000 for car wheels.”

Despite extensive safety testing of the wheels, some customers were also scared off by the design.

Only about 10 sets of the Radurra wheels were sold before Celik decided to retire them this year, though he still has a few lying around his factory to show off to visitors.

Other companies continue to try to produce the wheels, Celik noted.

Meanwhile, Celik has started focusing on other endeavors. This year, they introduced a new one-spoke wheel, a stark contrast with the prevalent multispoke models currently popular on the market.

“We are trying to create unique things,” he said. There’s a waiting list.

Forgiato Designs

Year Founded: 2005

Core Business: Manufacturing high-end custom wheels for expensive cars

Employees in 2007: 20

Employees in 2008: 26

Goal: Increase wheel production from 1,200 to 2,000 a month

Driving Force: Customization of

luxury cars