Mutual respect and trust are the pillars these horological partners lean on

Whether it's a trusted partnership of half a century, or pivoting to the digital sphere to retail fine timepieces, these watch brands are on firm footing with Cortina Watch. This means for Bell & Ross, Montblanc and Zenith, greater things lie ahead as they continue in their collaborative spirit with the retailer.

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A leap forward with Bell & Ross

When Mr Jeremy Lim, then-COO and current CEO of Cortina Watch, proposed making a limited-edition watch to Bell & Ross for the retailer’s brand new e-commerce site in 2018, he knew it would do well.

He just didn’t expect how well it would perform. The exclusive BR03-92 “Demiurgas” Diver Bronze with a khaki green dial was sold out in 56 hours, setting a record for Cortina. It was an experiment that paid off for both brands.

The retailer has been a partner and one of its earliest supporters when Bell & Ross was founded in 1992. The design of its watches, a distinct and standout look different from classic watchmaking, appealed to Mr Jeremy Lim and his elder brother, Raymond. The former was the COO, while the latter was the CEO of Cortina Watch in those days.

With the watches boasting an aeronautics-inspired style, the Lims were sure that it would draw interest from a new generation of watch collectors looking for something different.

Over the years, the independent watchmaker has also supported many of Cortina’s retail innovations and ideas, such as the Espace boutique in Millennia Walk.

The concept store, which offered standalone shop-in-shop experiences customised to individual brands, gave participating watchmakers the autonomy to create an immersive boutique experience within a multi-brand store.

Since then, the Espace concept has been absorbed into Cortina’s new boutique designs, which channel the experience of brands like Bell & Ross across multiple platforms from offline to online.

“We’ve been retailers of Bell & Ross since 2008, so they knew we would not attempt something like this unless we were confident of success. Even though buying a watch from the internet wasn’t that common for most customers, we could see the importance of an online retail channel as other luxury brands were seeing strong growth in digital retail,” explains Mr Jeremy Lim. Bell & Ross was one of the first five brands on Cortina’s e-commerce site. “The brand agreed as soon as we shared the idea with the team,” he adds.

Part of the reason why he wanted Bell & Ross onboard was because of its strong following among young collectors.

It was also a way for both brands to trial the response of customers in the region to online retail.

Along with these were several other strategies to engage and connect with online customers, such as inviting them to discover the watch in-store.

The online-to-offline strategy has worked well, with new online customers visiting Cortina’s boutiques to try on their online offerings. The convenience of online retail has strengthened Cortina’s retail for Bell & Ross timepieces. Not only can they now introduce new models more quickly, they are also able to gain greater perspective into what their customers want from Bell & Ross.

According to Mr Jeremy Lim, these insights are helping to shape business decisions for Cortina, ensuring that they are meeting customers’ interests.

“As a retailer, we always have to be able to anticipate the market and understand what they want, even before they themselves realise it,” explains Mr Raymond Lim.

Supported by real-time data, this ensures that they are acquiring models which customers are demanding and perhaps create another sell-out limited edition in the future.

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Making history with Montblanc

As founder of Cortina Watch Anthony Lim was starting the company, he realised that the business customers he had were using other luxury products beyond wristwatches.

Sensing an opportunity, he began to retail the fountain pens of luxury maison Montblanc in 1972. 

For the next couple of decades, Cortina Watch and Montblanc maintained a steady retail relationship.

Cortina Watch’s customers were business owners in the region who appreciated Montblanc’s writing instruments for use and as gifts for their clients. 

During the 90s, the two brands inked a formal agreement and Cortina Watch began to retail Montblanc writing instruments, leather goods and accessories.

Within Cortina Watch’s Raffles City flagship store, a portion of the real estate was dedicated to Montblanc.

At the same time, the maison experienced a significant transformation: it began to create timepieces in 1997, a logical extension to its existing product offerings.

The first Meisterstück watch was a classic model, bearing a stamped guilloché dial, italicised numerals and the Montblanc emblem on the minute hand.

While Cortina Watch did not immediately add Montblanc’s timepieces to its regular portfolio, it was already monitoring the brand’s development in watchmaking.

As CEO of Cortina Holdings, Mr Raymond Lim notes, “Before we introduce new brands or products, we would like to see how they are developing over time.” 

Today, while the retailer no longer sells Montblanc’s other categories, it offers the maison’s fine and high watchmaking creations in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. 

“Visiting Montblanc’s manufactures in Villeret and Le Locle, we can see how they bring a unique perspective to uniting traditional watchmaking craftsmanship and processes with modern watch design,” says Mr Raymond Lim.

“We always ensure that every brand we retail within Cortina has longevity and unique qualities that will interest our customers.” 

“We are proud to engage with a strong network of watch collectors in the region that come to Cortina looking for a superior level of craftsmanship – sometimes from several generations – to discover our timepieces.” 
 

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Going the distance with Zenith

In the 1990s, as Cortina Watch was building up a portfolio of international brand partnerships, Zenith was reviving its watchmaking operations in the post-quartz era. 

As a watchmaker, Zenith has attained impressive records. It has the most number of chronometry accolades in the industry and has consistently broken new records in performance, from high precision timekeeping to innovative watchmaking.

In the early 2000s, the brand began to develop a range of high complication timepieces powered by the El Primero movement. 

The El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th launched in 2011 comes to mind. Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner strapped the watch to his wrist and plunged into the stratosphere, reaching a record speed of 1,342 km an hour.

Remarkably, the watch was still functioning accurately, a reminder of the time in 1970 when Zenith strapped an El Primero A385 to the landing gear of an Air France Boeing 707 going from Paris to New York. Needless to say, the watch worked perfectly even after the flight.

Equally impressive is the Zenith Defy El Primero 21 launched in 2017. With a new El Primero movement 9004 beating at 50Hz, it was the world’s first and only one-hundredth of a second automatic high-frequency wristwatch. It also provides a power reserve of 50 hours when fully wound.

Through Cortina Watch, Zenith showed collectors its mastery of high watchmaking crafts with contemporary designs. 

Partnership is key to Zenith’s way of reaching new audiences – both online and offline. 

When Cortina Watch launched its e-commerce platform in 2018, Zenith was one of its first to offer its full collection on the site, from the special-edition Chronomaster Revival El Primero A384 to high-tech timepieces such as the Defy Classic. 

Says Mr Jeremy Lim, CEO of Cortina Watch: “Zenith has an incredible heritage when it comes to watch innovation, from developing the first integrated chronograph calibre to the El Primero 21. It has a strong identity as a watchmaker that’s dedicated to high precision, high frequency watchmaking, which is something our customers appreciate. Cortina is proud to support fine watchmaking brands such as Zenith throughout our history."

Similarly, Zenith’s CEO, Mr Julien Tornare, shares that the brand “has partnered Cortina to reach a new group of clientele and grow the brand”. 

“Our retail partners are the on-ground experts that understand their customers' interests,” adds Mr Tornare. “With Zenith’s rich heritage and excellence in precision and mastery of high frequency, we are able to craft watches that connect with watch aficionados and inspire them."

Agreeing, Mr Lim says: “Zenith is a brand that represents courage and persistence. From Charles Vermot’s rescue of the El Primero movement that saved the brand in the post-quartz era, to its continued efforts in engineering new products that excite collectors. We’re delighted to be their partner, and hope this relationship will continue to mature for many years to come.”