gaoxing84
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The Watch Thread - Part 7
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gaoxing84
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SIC rich collector friend over 300k watches.
then ask him add some fake one in.
then we play the game? lol if not will just be CSB. which don't belong here
gaoxing84
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selected best answer of the day.
really suay siao if kena chop while wearing fake. LOLOLOLOL
rachdanon
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Fake watch doesnt bring me any satisfaction. But I used a fake Oakley sunglasses from Thailand years ago though, just liked the design while strolling through the night market and didnt think too much. But now older want to feel good wearing something of quality mah. Not for others to see but for my self.
flame2000
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Wearing mine today
Nice. Hardly see anyone wearing a Union here. They seems to have gone off the radar after switching to ETA movements.
Long standing tradition all these years. Working on a b-day.
Writer's block combined with pc distraction equals eating lunch now.
Happy Birthday to you!!!
trickle_on
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Anything good to buy at THG sale?
Thinking of hooting a Sinn U1.
Sent from Somewhere to Everywhere using GAGT
Thinking of hooting a Sinn U1.
Sent from Somewhere to Everywhere using GAGT
cichlid
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trickle_on
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Sure thing man. Does anyone know what time the sale goes on till?
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yattokame
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yo until 8pm.....
yattokame
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Long standing tradition all these years. Working on a b-day.
Writer's block combined with pc distraction equals eating lunch now.
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
お誕生日 おめでとう!
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trickle_on
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Thai_Rak_Thai
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Hi TUV2008,
Usually all of us don't come here and debate on genuine or replicas. Simply because, it is the faith and understanding that all of us will post as what the thread says "watches", not "replica watches".
I don't speak for anyone else but that is just simple forum decorum. No one is judged wearing replicas, we just appreciate that it is not shared here.
To be honest, I found it a little distasteful, that you challenged (whoever it was) on the authenticity of the collection that you had. That could have been avoided totally.
As per your analogy, like the Indonesian General throwing his Richard Mille watch on the floor...who would believe that? That is not the point however, for this discussion.
Many of us are not solely focused on luxury watches. If one have a nice watch that cost below $100, by all means share it here.
We are all watch enthusiasts, we share our collections and thoughts. The price of these watches are hardly topics we discuss - because that is not the focus of importance, but showing a replica is going against the nature of this thread.
All that said, please continue to contribute to this thread. Please do not take any offence to my message, since i don't usually see your postings, I'd thought i'd share this etiquette we practice here. If you like to post your replica, you may do so by starting another thread.
Have a nice weekend.
SIC rich collector friend over 300k watches.
then ask him add some fake one in.
then we play the game? lol if not will just be CSB. which don't belong here
I'm not into fakes, but to be fair, let's see what Cortina boss says:
'In fact, the affable man, who jokes that he has a "prune face" and has a tendency to be "fierce looking", tells Life! of his personal collection of 50 to 60 timepieces: "Eh, not all of them are expensive watches, you know. I still have some models of Seiko and funny watches you've never heard of.
"I also have fake watches because you need to know why fake watches are acceptable in the market."'
Cortina Watch scion Jeremy Lim knows all about mixing family and business - More Lifestyle Stories News & Top Stories - The Straits Times
THE LIFE! INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY LIM
Cortina Watch scion Jeremy Lim knows all about mixing family and business
Mr Jeremy Lim, chief operating officer of luxury watch retailer Cortina, keeps weekends for his three kids
By Melissa Kok
When Jeremy Lim was eight years old, he bugged his parents, who ran retail store Cortina Watch at the former Colombo Court shopping centre, to buy him a Seiko watch.
Mr Lim, now 43, recalls those mass market Japanese timepieces being all the rage back then, and says that he had to have one.
"I bugged them and finally, my parents bought it for me lah, but I don't know where it is now," he says with a laugh.
You could say that his life is inseparable from the watch trade. Now chief operating officer of the family business - a leading luxury watch retailer here - he is also a major industry figure as president of the Singapore Clock and Watch Trade Association since 2012.
His old Seiko watch has since been swapped for a more luxurious Patek Philippe Aquanaut, one which comes with a cool five-figure price tag.
However there are no airs about Mr Lim when we meet for our interview at Cortina's offices at Ngee Ann City.
In fact, the affable man, who jokes that he has a "prune face" and has a tendency to be "fierce looking", tells Life! of his personal collection of 50 to 60 timepieces: "Eh, not all of them are expensive watches, you know. I still have some models of Seiko and funny watches you've never heard of.
"I also have fake watches because you need to know why fake watches are acceptable in the market."
Today, Cortina Watch, which was founded by Mr Lim's father Anthony and three other partners in 1972, is a household name in the luxury watch retail and distribution industry in Asia.
The group, which was publicly listed in 2002, carries more than 50 internationally renowned brands such as Concord, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Patek Philippe and Rolex. The prices of these timepieces can range from the low thousands to millions of dollars.
It operates 27 retail outlets in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia.
It also has the reputation of being one of the top three luxury watch retailers in Singapore, along with Sincere Watch and The Hour Glass.
The youngest of three siblings, Mr Lim was an auditor who joined the family business in 2000.
As the company's COO, he heads the regional retail operations spanning Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, where he oversees the planning and execution of retail projects and the management of retail inventory.
His brother, Raymond, 54, has been with the group since 1980 and is the deputy chief executive officer of Cortina Watch, managing the expansion of Cortina Holdings into overseas markets.
Older sister Sharon, in her 40s, is a director with Cortina Watch and executive director of Pacific Time, a subsidiary company that oversees distribution in South-east Asia for a number of watch brands.
The patriarch, Mr Lim's father Anthony, 79, is chairman and chief executive officer of Cortina Holdings.
In his salad days, Mr Lim said he was a "rebel" teenager who was not interested in studying. Instead, he preferred hanging out at Colombo Court (now the Supreme Court), where Cortina Watch was originally housed, and going to the gaming arcade upstairs.
He attended Montfort Secondary School and later attended a private school, Stamford College, to study for a diploma in marketing, but he did not graduate.
His parents ended up sending him to Perth, where he sat for a tertiary entrance exam which secured him a place in Edith Cowan University.
He graduated with a bachelor's degree majoring in accountancy and finance, and got a job as an auditor with established firm KPMG in Singapore.
"That's where my life all changed," he says with a hearty laugh.
Mr Lim worked at KPMG for close to three years, before contemplating a move to Sydney to work with a new auditing firm in 2000.
That was when his brother and father asked him to work for the family business.
Cortina Watch's first outlet opened in 1972, a 400 sq ft unit in Colombo Court, then a popular shopping complex. It sold a range of watch brands, including Casio and Seiko, as well as stationery and lighters.
The store's name drew inspiration from the now-defunct department store Cortina, which was also located in Colombo Court.
In the late 1980s to early 1990s, Cortina Watch focused more on luxury retail, and by the time Mr Lim joined the company in 2000, the company had four or five branches in Singapore, and another two to three in Malaysia.
He managed retail operations in Singapore, while his older brother developed the business in Malaysia and Hong Kong. His sister was in charge of marketing.
Within two years, Mr Lim took over business operations for Malaysia as well.
Cortina became a public-listed company in 2002, and two years later, began expanding aggressively into Thailand and Indonesia, followed by Taiwan in 2009.
Despite the volatile retail market, the group has done well. For the financial year 2014, it earned a revenue of $415 million, up 13 per cent from the year before. Profit after tax was $19 million, up from $17 million the previous year.
Mr Lim says it was not always smooth sailing at the start, as he felt he was not contributing enough and wanted to quit "many times".
He says: "Especially in the first two to three years - you think you're a graduate, you've worked for a prestigious company, and you have lots of ideas and try to push them down everybody's throat, and of course you don't take into consideration that the older generation has more experience.
"It ends up in arguments."
He says one idea he wanted to implement was to hire a full team of employees for each country the company did business in.
"Had that been implemented back then, our cost structure would have gone crazy. We had to ensure each country was profitable on its own before bringing in people to run it," he explains.
One of the toughest challenges he has had to deal with was during the Sars outbreak in 2003, when his stores took a bad hit with "close to zero buying".
"It was more than just the business. It was an outbreak or pandemic which affected business, morale, people working for you. In the first month of Sars, it was okay, but people were worried. Then the lack of business kicked in," he says.
Mr Lim says there were recommendations to fire people or "slow down business costs", but he and his management team decided that everyone take a 20 per cent pay cut.
"Everyone stood by us, and that's how we pulled through Sars without firing anyone. Within four to five months, it went back to normal," he says.
In making the transition from auditor to businessman, Mr Lim also found he had to get used to a more fluid, less structured work routine.
For one, he had to entertain clients and be on the shop floor to get a good sense of how the market was doing.
He says: "Cortina is a business which involves selling, and I don't think there's any way to say, 'This is how you should sell a watch or service a customer'. Selling is more of an art form, it's not a science.
"In the watch business especially, the relationship with brand partners and customers is very important," he adds.
To that end, Mr Lim organises many events to allow interaction with customers and to showcase new watch collections.
In 2000, he started Jewellery Time, a biennial retail initiative to increase awareness of and appreciation for high-end jewellery timepieces.
He says: "I wanted to showcase the art and craft of watch-making, and to feature the skills of gem settings on timepieces and the possibilities of combining gems with mechanical watches."
The latest edition of Jewellery Time is on at Paragon until Sunday.
The chi-chi event features luxury timepieces from 12 brands including Chopard, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Omega and Zenith. The prices of the timepieces range between $2,000 and $2.8 million.
Mr Lim's father jokes that his son takes the task of entertaining clients too seriously.
He says: "Sometimes, when he goes to entertain, he drinks too much, so we have to tell him off. He also likes to smoke, and I'm not a smoker, so I go 'Eh, please'."
But the patriarch gives his son's management ability the thumbs-up: "If he were not capable, I wouldn't let him do the job. He always discusses things with me before a decision is made. Not everything is successful, but I feel you have to let them (his sons) try."
Mr Lim's sister Sharon says her younger brother "has matured a lot" over the years and has done a "good job in helping to grow the company".
She says the fact that the siblings were helping out in the store while they were still in school has put her brother in good stead to grow the company.
She says: "In our younger days, my dad used to ask us to work during the holidays. It keeps us (grounded) knowing that there is a business that my dad has built.
"So Jeremy was always coming back during school holidays or when he's free, he'd be on the sales floor."
Mr Eduardo Tartalo, 40, managing director of Piaget South-east Asia, describes Mr Lim as a likeable family man and determined person who is very knowledgable about the industry.
Mr Tartalo, who has worked with Mr Lim for four years, says: "If he wants something, he'll get it. He's very persuasive. He also has a very good understanding of the industry.
"He knows about the brands, more than the brands themselves sometimes. You are talking to an expert."
He adds: "He is also family-oriented. I remember that he gave the Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie, the most important watch fair in Geneva, a miss because his wife was giving birth to their son that year."
While Mr Lim prefers to keep his personal life private, the married father of three children - two daughters aged 10 and nine, and a 19-month-old son - says family is very important to him.
He tries to keep weekends free to spend quality time with his children and his wife, a stay-at-home mum. Every Sunday, the entire clan, including his father and siblings, meet for a meal.
"We don't live together but we're like a village. My dad's house is across the road from me and my sister lives three or four minutes away. My brother lives with my dad," says Mr Lim, who lives in a landed property in Serangoon Gardens.
So does he look to his children to one day carry on the family business?
Mr Lim's reply is matter-of-fact and to the point: "If this opportunity is going to be given to the third generation of the family... if you're not going to be good at it, then forget about it.
"I'm harsh, and this is just my view, but if my kids are not capable, I'd tell them to just be shareholders, get your dividends, stay at home or do something else.
"If the company doesn't do well, it's the end of our livelihood. So if they're going to c*** it up, I'd rather they not be in it."
chickenbackside
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