Established in 1972 as a modest, single-store family business, Cortina Watch stands as one of the subsidiaries under Cortina Holdings Limited, contributing to the overall retail enterprise that boasts over 50 boutiques across the Asia Pacific region.
While Cortina Watch’s story began in 1972, our appreciation for fine watchmaking started even earlier when our founder, Mr. Anthony Lim, began his career as a watch associate.
Reaching beyond Singapore
To continue to expand his passion for fine watchmaking across Asia, we looked beyond Singapore’s borders. By 1982, we broadened our presence into Malaysia, just 10 years after opening our first store in Colombo Court.
Our regional expansion steadily continued, starting with more mature markets such as Hong Kong in 1993, and maturing markets including Thailand, Indonesia and Taipei by 2007.
Debuting our anniversary editions
Over the last five decades, we have created many timepieces to commemorate important milestones. These anniversary watches are developed together with our longstanding partners, from boutique brands to leaders in the industry.
The first anniversary watch was launched in 1992. Since then, new models have been created every five years to celebrate our journey.
The first anniversary model marked our 20th anniversary in 1992. Created in partnership with Corum, this Reserve de Marche in 18K rose gold with power reserve and date was limited to just 20 pieces.
Curating the finest in watchmaking
To share with the public more about horological crafts and bring the art of watchmaking closer to collectors, we carefully curated experiences that allowed our partners to showcase their finest creations to our customers.
One such notable event was in 1997, when we held an exhibition with Patek Philippe to present the 100-piece, limited edition Silver Jubilee timepiece commissioned for our 25th anniversary. The Patek Philippe Ref. 5057G-001 Calatrava with Date and Power Reserve is powered by the famed calibre 240 and stamped with the Geneva Seal.
Fusing high jewellery with high watchmaking
The new millennium called for new perspectives in watchmaking. Seeing a growing interest in sophisticated jewellery timepieces, we debuted a conceptual event that merged the crafts of high jewellery with luxury watchmaking.
The first Jewellery Time exhibition was held in 2000 at Paragon Shopping Centre, to great acclaim. It grew into a biennial event that continued until 2014.
Shaping novel retail concepts
To create a more intimate retail environment that offered customers privacy as well as product diversity, we developed the “Espace” retail concept. Its revolutionary modular design catered for immersive, monobrand experiences within a multi-brand store.
The first Espace was launched in 2001 at Millenia Walk, Singapore. It won the “Best Retail Concept of the Year” award from the Singapore Retailers Association. Espace was swiftly adopted in Malaysia and Thailand, such as our first Thailand boutique in Bangkok’s Erawan mall.
An Era of Growth
2002 marked our 30th anniversary and a key milestone for Cortina Watch. After several years of planning, we became a publicly listed company on the Singapore Exchange.
To further commemorate this important anniversary, we collaborated with independent watchmaker Girard-Perregaux to create a 30-piece limited edition WW.TC World Time Chronograph.
Our first Rolex standalone boutique
We became an Official Retailer for Rolex in Malaysia in 2002 with the launch of the Espace boutique in Kuala Lumpur. We further cemented our presence and created an exclusive retail experience for our customers by establishing our first Rolex standalone boutique in Penang in 2007.
Growing with Patek Philippe
As demand for personalised retail increased, with clients expecting the same level of service across different markets, we opened new monobrand boutiques, starting with our longest partner, Patek Philippe.
We opened the first Patek Philippe boutique in ION Orchard, Singapore. This was followed by stores in Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and a second Singapore boutique in Marina Bay Sands.
Cortina Watch & Chopard Limited Edition
To celebrate our 35th anniversary, we commissioned a limited edition watch from Chopard dedicated to female collectors. The Chopard Happy Sport model featured dancing diamonds shaped in ‘3’ and ‘5’ numerals to mark the occasion.
Celebrating our 40th anniversary in style, we collaborated with Chopard once again to create a unique L.U.C model with a skeletonised dial and calibre 96.17, which featured cut out bridges that fully revealed the beauty of this Geneva Seal certified model from both the front and back of the watch.
Delivering seamless retail in the 21st century
In recent years, Cortina Watch has embraced a digital transformation. We were one of the first retailer in Singapore to introduce e-commerce on our platforms, delivering a multi-channel experience for our customers’ convenience.
Our e-commerce site has enhanced our role as curator of time. We continue to collaborate with our partner brands to introduce e-commerce exclusive timepieces for our customers.
Welcoming a new addition to our family
In 2021, we completed our planned acquisition of Sincere Watch, a privately-held watch retailer, expanding our network to new markets across Asia Pacific.
The acquisition also brings Franck Muller into our growing stable of luxury brands, giving us a larger footprint in the luxury watch market.
“Cortina Watch has come a long way today from our first store in Colombo Court. We have worked tirelessly to realise the vision that our founders had — to introduce people to the art of fine watchmaking and the watchmakers behind our timepieces. I’m delighted that we have accomplished more than we ever dreamt possible and I will continue to build on the success our founders have created.”
– Mr. Raymond Lim. Group CEO of Cortina Holdings Limited
