Although a milestone like this typically makes one feel a little reflective, Jeremy has his sights firmly fixed on the future. "I'm always thinking how we can do better. We don't want to be too comfortable and take things for granted," he explains. "We want to make sure the bar is always higher."

This is something Jeremy learnt from dad. "He's always saying we should strive to be better."

He gives his dad all the credit for Cortina's strong standing today. "It's more his achievement and he should be the one enjoying the fruits of his labour."

See also: Tay Liam Khoon Of Cortina Watch Malaysia Shares Tips On Buying Your First Luxury Watch

A finance and accounting graduate from Edith Cowan University, Australia, it seems natural for Jeremy to go into the family business, having grown up all his life around watches. "My earliest memory was spending every weekend at Colombo Court (where the first boutique was located), running around with the kids of the other tenants. I got to know the people working at the amusement park very well," he reminisces.

After a stint at KPMG, he joined Cortina as operations manager. His decades-long experience made him certain that bricks-and-mortar will remain an essential part of luxury watch retail. "Selling fine watches is all about the customer experience. You can always go online to buy a watch and you can find all the information you need on the internet, but you cannot do without the touch and feel experience." 

That can only happen in-store with the right environment and a knowledgable staff. "There needs to be more focus on customer experience because today's consumers are very sophisticated," Jeremy notes.

But the pandemic had also highlighted the necessity of digitalisation. "We've been talking about it for years but the pandemic completely changed our mindset. The first two months (of lockdown), we did everything we could digitally. We expedited our digitalisation plans. we started our e-commerce. We meet customers via Zoom, started a digital payment portal. The team huddled together to get through these difficult times."

The decision to purchase Sincere was bold. "But that's something I feel we can build upon. Sincere remains Sincere, Cortina is still Cortina. We will eventually do some differentiation in the sense that there will not be that many crossover brands. And because we're already in the watch business, we have this confidence to bring it to the next level. It's challenging but it's fun," he opines.

"What's interesting about luxury watch business to me is the people. I love meeting and interacting with everyone in the industry," Lim muses. "The other thing I like about it is that everyone is very hands-on. You have to be. The watchmakers put a lot of passion into the watches."

For Lim, the deciding factor to work with a new brand is the people behind it. "In the past, you can impress them with a big order. Now, I look at the quality and I want to know who are the people behind it. If I don't know who they are, then I won't know if they are serious. We want to uphold our reputation as we're the one facing the customers. We need to be responsible to our customers."

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