“Starting a [high-end] Chinese brand was obviously a very counterintuitive brand back then, because everyone wanted to produce watches in China but label it as Swiss. I was producing watches in China and labelling them as Chinese. Everyone thought I was crazy,” he shared. Getting investors on board wasn’t an option, as the business model didn’t seem viable. In any case, Chee wanted to chart his own direction.
“As a total outsider to the watch industry, and indeed to business as a whole, I had completely no industry knowledge or business expertise when I first began. I had to learn practically every area of business from scratch, on my own, and it certainly wasn’t easy, but it was a challenge that I truly appreciated.
“Apart from that, not having any investors or base of capital apart from my own savings and taking personal loans, I was continually stressed financially for the better part of a decade, but this allowed me to learn how to manage cash flow well. It was very difficult with an undertaking as ambitious as building a high horology brand from scratch from a continent away from Switzerland where all the suppliers are located. But this has made me more resourceful, and has made the resulting accomplishments more satisfying,” he said.
Likening his entrepreneurial journey to that of Singapore’s own historical narrative, he offered: “I personally think that the Singapore story is one of entrepreneurism – a small upstart nation with no inherited resources charged with the immediate, existential imperative of building her future from scratch, surrounded by unfriendly behemoths, and using all her resourcefulness, hard work and determination to achieve the seemingly impossible.
“Like my homeland, I started my journey with almost no resources apart from myself, and I continuously compete with billion-dollar brands with centuries of history and accumulated knowledge, and legions of staff. The way I’ve succeeded is to complement instead of compete head-on with them, and to build a symbiotic relationship with the large brands.”
BRANCHING OUT
Today, those early struggles have borne fruit. His first brand, Celadon, now has two lines: The Haute Horlogerie line (Celadon HH) and a more entry-level collection, Celadon CL. Chee’s intention is for the latter to serve as a jumping-off point for enthusiasts looking to collect high-quality Chinese watches.