Today, the group, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, operates a network of boutiques for premium watches, with five multi-brand showrooms, including L’Atelier Lucerne, and dedicated shops for heavyweights like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Omega and more. Looking ahead, Yao shared plans “to strengthen the existing brands we carry by expanding and improving the presentation either through larger stores or better locations”. In August 2022, the company unveiled Vacheron Constantin’s first standalone boutique in the country at the luxury hub of Greenbelt in Makati. 

Read Emerson Yao’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Brothers Ashvin, Mukesh and Sharan Valiram are leaders in the region's luxury retail market. Through the Valiram Group, they bring a variety of premium goods to Southeast Asia, including fashion, jewellery, cosmetics, confectionery and, of course, the most beautiful timepieces. In 2001, Valiram opened the first boutique of Swiss Watch Gallery at Penang International Airport, and now its watch firm has over 30 locations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia, offering more than 40 watch brands, including Rolex, IWC, Omega, Montblanc, Chopard and Cartier, to the region’s watch enthusiasts.

Providing exceptional experiences for its community, the watch distributor celebrated its 20th anniversary in style, launching a series of events from 2021 to 2022. In September 2022, Swiss Watch, together with Tudor, staged the watchmaker’s largest exhibition in Southeast Asia. The following month, the Valirams held their signature Art of Time exhibition, which for the first time included independent and more accessible brands to its lineup of prestige watchmakers and their latest novelties. Of its two decades in retail, Ashvin said to Tatler: “Our mission at Swiss Watch is to give customers what they want and sometimes surprise them with something they never knew they wanted”.

Read Ashvin Valiram’s, Mukesh Valiram’s and Sharan Valiram’s full profiles on Asia’s Most Influential

“What's interesting about [the] luxury watch business to me is the people. I love meeting and interacting with everyone in the industry,” said Jeremy Lim, CEO of Cortina Watch, to Tatler. The watch retailer shared how his father Anthony Lim “was always in the store, which made customers feel very comfortable with him”, a personal approach that Lim emulates today, hosting events for clients, attending meetings with partners and, when time allows, dropping by Cortina’s boutiques. The watch group, which started as a small store in Colombo Shopping Centre in 1972, now has more than 45 stores across the region, from Hong Kong to Thailand, Taiwan to Australia.

In 2022, the Singapore-headquartered company celebrated 50 years of providing the most sought-after timepieces to watch lovers in Asia. Apart from hosting gala dinners and exhibitions, Cortina released nine commemorative edition watches in collaboration with its brand partners. A reissue of a limited-edition Patek Philippe Calatrava, which was originally created for Cortina’s 25th anniversary, came in white gold. Cartier’s Baignoire Allongée, the Paris watchmaker’s bathtub-shaped model, arrived with new details, including Roman numerals instead of Arabic and a “50” at the watch’s 5 o’clock position. 

Read Jeremy Lim’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential

Tatler Asia's Most Influential is the definitive list of people shaping our world today. Asia's Most Influential brings together the region's most innovative changemakers, industry titans and thought leaders who are driving positive impact in Asia and beyond. View the full list here.

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