These are watches with a Cuban heart. Ng Chor Kee introduces Vimala Seneviratne to luxury watch brand Cuervo y Sobrinos.

Ng Chor Kee is sporting two watches on his wrist that bear a Cuban name – Cuervo y Sobrinos (Spanish for Cuervo And Nephews), a luxury watch brand that has been around for 126 years but one that is little known in Malaysia.

One features a perpetual calendar with a moon phase and two time zones while another has a horseshoe on the bezel. Both are mechanical timepieces and are limited edition series.

“Cuervo y Sobrinos or CYS does not believe in quartz and battery-operated watches. They are all 100 per cent mechanical, individually hand-crafted and Swiss-made,” says Ng, the operations manager for RP Group, the sole distributor of the brand here.

He removes the watches from his wrist and places one in my palm. It feels heavy. You notice the distinct design and sleek lines.

“See the curves? Feel how smooth they are. Seamless. They flow smoothly and sit so well on the wrist,” he says with a big smile.

Ng, who has been overseeing the sales and marketing of CYS since it was introduced here two years ago, is showing off the other watches at the flagship outlet in The Gardens, Kuala Lumpur.

“We have four ranges, each named after a cigar since the best cigars come from Havana. The Esplendidos and Prominente have art deco-inspired rectangular cases while the Robusto and Torpedo lines have classic round cases,” he says.

The brand, he adds, may have a rich Cuban heart but its soul is Swiss – as the watches are made in the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds. He does not hesitate to name famous people who owned a CYS, including Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill and Clark Gable.

“They obviously know how to appreciate the mechanical movements that do much more than tell time.”

In keeping with its Cuban heritage, each watch comes packaged in a special box made of Spanish cedar wood that doubles as a humidor. Once the watch is removed, its owner can store his premium cigars inside the box.

CYS, which was founded by Ramon Cuervo and his nephews, folded when Fidel Castro came to power in the 1950s. The brand was resurrected and re-launched in Europe in 2002 under its new owners Marzio Villa and Luca Musumeci.

Ng’s love for high-end timepieces is obvious when he takes great pains to explain the various movements of the watches. Personally, he owns 10 sporty as well as luxury watches including the CYS Torpedo Pulsometro. The Penang-born Ng’s first watch is a Seiko which he still keeps for old times’ sake.

The youngest of three siblings, Ng chose not to join the family’s construction business because of his fear of heights. His fascination with watches began in 1987 when he was working in Johor Baru as an encyclopedia salesman.

“One day, while flipping through the pages of the encyclopedia, I came across an image of a sundial and read about how it was used to tell the time long before clocks and watches were invented. That triggered my interest in timepieces – the design, the engineering, the technology, the technique, the whole works!” he says.

He quit his encyclopedia sales job to join a watch company selling sporty and mid-ranged Japanese watches as well as high-end Swiss timepieces. He made it a point to learn more about the details and history of each brand his company dealt in.

“Some of our clients are very knowledgeable about watches. Some are very serious collectors, so we need to know our products like the back of our hands when talking to them,” says Ng.

He stayed with the company for 10 years and learned the various aspects of the business before he left for Kuala Lumpur to work for another watch company.

In 2003, he joined the RP Group and now he manages the group’s seven watch outlets in the Klang valley. Most of the timepieces (there are about 15 brands) are in the middle and luxury range and the minimum price tag is RM10,000 ($4,177). The fastest moving timepieces, he says, are those in the RM20,000 to RM40,000 bracket.

Despite the popularity of dress and pop watches, which are mostly battery and quartz operated, Ng says the market for mechanical watches is strong.

“There is a move now towards mechanical watches. Serious collectors, mostly men, are fascinated with mechanical movements that do much more than tell the time. At its simplest, a watch may have an annual calendar but the levels of sophistication and price move up as more features are added,” he says.

Prices vary according to the features too - the more complicated the movements, the higher the cost. A watch that chimes hours and minutes can easily cost RM100 and above. Add more complex devices such as perpetual calendars, moon phase displays, tourbillions, and the price can shoot through the roof.

Ng, who plans to add a watch that chimes to his existing collection, says limited editions also sell well because of their exclusivity. Connoisseurs know that such a timepiece will go up in value over time.

“There’s also the fashion element that has crept into the watch-making business and jewellery watches are popular with women but men still prefer leather straps or those with simple bracelets.

“You’ll notice that CYS timepieces for men aren’t flashy and do not scream out. Beauty is understated,” says Ng who keeps abreast of the latest in the business by attending the annual Basel Fair in Switzerland.

He’s optimistic about the future of CYS here. “Although CYS has only been here for two years, we have made the right impact judging from its sales. Those who appreciate high quality mechanical timepieces are aware of this brand and that’s what is important to us,” he concludes.