Times that Bind
As Patek Philippe opens the doors to its largest boutique in Southeast Asia, Cortina Watch’s Jeremy Lim tells Karishma Tulsidas how the relationship between both family-owned companies transcends the bottom line and is based on mutual respect
ne should not mix business with pleasure, or so the adage goes. For Cortina Watch’s Jeremy Lim and Patek Philippe’s Thierry Stern, such rules do not apply. The two family-owned companies share a relationship that started smack in the middle of the 1970s destabilising quartz crisis that threatened to eradicate the mechanical watch industry. Nonetheless, Philippe Stern and Anthony Lim, company heads and respective fathers of Thierry and Jeremy, remained steadfast in their belief in the Swiss industry. Today, the fruits of their labour—and their unwavering faith—have been rewarded multifold, with the latest milestone being the opening of the newest and largest Patek Philippe boutique in Southeast Asia at Ion Orchard. It was inaugurated in April this year.