Patrick Aoun speaks about watchmaking with the conviction of someone who knows exactly where he is headed. Having assumed the role of CEO of Longines in June 2025, he brings with him nearly two decades within the brand and the wider Swatch Group, along with a leadership style defined by clarity. “I have a very clear mindset,” he says. “There is no ambiguity in my leadership. The strategy of where we want to go is super clear.”
Born in Lebanon and fluent in English, French, and Arabic, Aoun’s career has unfolded across regions that demand cultural sensitivity as much as commercial discipline. Before entering Swiss watchmaking, he began in the perfume and cosmetics industry with Coty Middle East, an experience that sharpened his understanding of brand, storytelling, and emotional connection. He joined the Swatch Group in 2005 as Rado’s Regional Brand Manager for the Middle East, before moving to Longines in 2007, where his responsibilities would later expand to include Southeast Asia. Across these fast-growing markets, he played a pivotal role in retail expansion and in strengthening the brand’s relationship with customers and partners.
For Aoun, relationships sit at the heart of leadership. “For me, relationships are very important. The human contact is very important, because this is where trust is being established,” he explains. That belief informs his priorities as CEO. Strengthening Longines’ leading position in its segment, deepening partnerships across the brand’s ecosystem, and growing market share through strategic distribution and product innovation. Not by repositioning the brand elsewhere, but by reinforcing what it already stands for.
Tradition, in Aoun’s view, is often misunderstood. He does not see it as something that competes with modernity, nor as a fixed set of rules anchored in the past. “Tradition doesn’t mean being stuck in what we did 50 years ago,” he says. “For me, tradition is respecting your DNA. It’s about being authentic. And you can be both authentic and modern. The key is combining both together.”
This philosophy is brought to life in the Longines Master Collection Year of the Horse 2026, a limited-edition timepiece that draws together heritage, cultural symbolism, and mechanical storytelling. The horse, Aoun admits, holds personal meaning for him. “The horse is very close to my heart,” he says. “It symbolises loyalty. It’s intelligent, strong, and it represents momentum, moving forward, speed. It never moves backwards.”
The inspiration comes from “Galloping Horse”, a celebrated painting by renowned Chinese artist Peon Xu, whose work captures motion with striking vitality. In collaboration with the Peon Art Museum in China, Longines engraved the iconic galloping horse motif onto the gilt rotor of the watch, visible through a transparent caseback. The placement is intentional. “Why on the rotor? Because the rotor is in constant movement when you move your hand,” Aoun shares. “It symbolises exactly the horse in motion, moving forward. This is very similar to the spirit of Longines.”
Limited to 2,026 pieces worldwide, the 42mm stainless steel timepiece belongs to the Master Collection, a line Aoun describes as the brand’s cornerstone. Featuring a gradient red sunray-brushed dial that evokes sunrise and new beginnings, the watch is accented with gilt hands and applied indexes, while a moonphase display at six o’clock adds a classical touch. Powering it is the Longines L899.5 self-winding movement, equipped with a silicon balance spring and offering a power reserve of up to 72 hours.
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"Tradition is respecting your DNA. It’s about being authentic. And you can be both authentic and modern. The key is combining both together."
Sport, a defining pillar of Longines’ identity, continues to shape how the brand approaches watchmaking today. “You cannot be almost accurate,” Aoun says plainly. “You have to be accurate.” Decades spent as official timekeeper to major sporting events instilled a mindset of precision and reliability, qualities that have become inseparable from the brand’s reputation. Longines’ pioneering role in chronograph development, from its earliest movements in the late 19th century to the flyback chronographs that followed, remains central to its technical credibility.
That credibility is increasingly important in a market where younger consumers are more informed than ever before. Aoun sees this not as a challenge, but as an opportunity. “When I was 20 years old, I did not know the things that a 20-year-old today knows,” he reflects. “They are aware, they are informed, and we need to respect that.” For many, Longines represents a first step into Swiss watchmaking, and Aoun is clear about the responsibility that comes with that position. “We are an accessible brand,” he says. “But accessibility must come with trust. They need to know they can rely on us.”
He recounts moments that illustrate this shift, such as encountering teenage customers already deeply knowledgeable about pilot watches and mechanical movements. In a world saturated with content and competing narratives, Aoun believes Longines must serve as a constant. “This world is full of distractions,” he says. “What we bring is an anchor of truth. The moment trust is built, then business will follow.”
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