The Jewellery Time Photo Book returns with a second edition keeping to the theme of high glamour. This time round, it features high society members alongside exclusive timepieces.

An 80-page hardcover narrative honouring the pedigree of luxury watchmakers, The Legacy – A Tale Of Time & Intrigue stars 16 personalities handpicked by 16 watch houses to match the heirloom-worthy pieces specially flown in for the event.

The book takes on a theme of travel and jet-set glamour with the photography set against private jets, luxury yachts and luxurious cars.

Says Mr Jeremy Lim, regional general manager of Cortina Watch: "The personalities featured in the coffee table book are prominent entrepreneurs, artists and corporate executives chosen for their resolute character, innate beauty and inspirational personality, all of which correspond to the virtues of the watches.

"We worked with photographer Peter Lau in the first Jewellery Time coffee table book, A Moment In Time, back in 2006. He has an innovative approach to watch photography — as opposed to the conventional 'stand-and-pose' shots."
 
The latest edition includes a fresh 12-page spread of men's timepieces, which were modelled by six male personalities that comprise media and entertainment luminaries Dick Lee, Mike Wiluan and Gaurav Kripalani, entrepreneur Patrick Wee, Olympic sharp shooter Lee Wung Yew and banker Bernardus Angkawidjaja.

The 10 personalities for the women’s collection consist of doctors Ho Ching Lin and Low Chai Ling, singer Melissa Indot, lawyer Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi, fashion maven Kelly Randall, entrepreneurs Ingrid Prasatya, Jamie Cuaca and Kady Leyau, banker Rasina Rubin and
music coach Linda Widyarta.

Says Peter Lau: "It was challenging capturing the personality while making sure the watches looked their best.

"Another challenge was in coordinating everyone’s schedule with the locations and the luxury items like the yachts and jets."

In describing his experience of being featured in this book, Dick Lee says: "The shoot was like filming a movie. The location was mysterious and once I arrived, I was totally swept away by the character of the hangar, the moody clouds, the jet and the limousine."

Dick Lee's love affair with watches began with a Cartier platinum tank, a gift from his parents in 1977. "Now, I have an IWC, which taught me to appreciate the mechanical workings of timepieces and how design and ancient technology are woven together," he says.

Eight hundred privileged Cortina Watch clients and VIPs will receive the limited-edition book while poster-sized images of selected pages will be exhibited at The Paragon Atrium from today, Oct 30, to Nov 9.

Also on display is Behind The Scenes Of The Legacy, a companion exhibition that captures the action behind the shoot, which lasted more than two weeks and was a memorable adventure for the 16 personalities with the featured timepieces.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 30, 2008.