After 19 years at Longines, Patrick Aoun, CEO since June 2025, describes the Swatch Group brand as “home”. The last decades he defines as a journey of curiosity, learning, and the development of a love story. “You can’t be in one place for 19 years if there is no emotional connection,” he says at the Weisses Roessl hotel, a five-minute-walk from the end zone of the fearsome Hahnenkamm downhill race, where Longines athlete Marco Odermatt won the Super-G just minutes before the interview. (The following day Mr. Odermatt came second in the downhill.)
Eight months into your new role as CEO, what is your main focus for Longines?
I have a very clear understanding of the strategy and vision of where we are going. For me it is important for a leader to be very clear on the way forward, because clarity is the first thing that leads to success, and clarity leads to consistency. If you are not clear about your strategy you end up trying left, right, and center and then you lose yourself. We are leaders in our price segment, and that is where we are going to stay. I am not here to make fantasy watches, I am here to bring reliable timepieces as we have always done, at a price point that is accessible. I am proud to say that we have an accessible price point, there is no shame in that. This is where we will continue going.
Apart from that, what does Longines mean to you?
The brand stands for performance, tradition and elegance. But elegance is not what it was 20, 30 or 100 years ago – the world evolves. Elegance is not just a suit and tie; today it can be sport, fun, masculine, feminine, charismatic – many aspects of our lives. Everything we do must align with such values. We have different watches, we have sports watches and dress watches, and both types of watches have to align with the concept of elegance. You will not find Longines doing bling-bling or flashy watches, that’s not who we are. Because elegance is confidence and that is what we represent: Elegance doesn’t need validation, bling does.
After all the milestones, after everything we brought to the Swiss watch industry, Longines doesn’t need validation. Longines is a credible brand that is a cornerstone of what the Swiss watch industry represents today, and this is why our watches represent confidence, quiet luxury and elegance; this is our heritage. And when I say heritage, we are not stuck in the past. Our heritage is our compass, never our anchor.
This heritage is full of very strong designs. But apart from DolceVita, what other icons do you have?
The square Longines DolceVita is definitely an icon. We have been making ladies wrist watches since 1912 with small movements. You say we don’t have an icon; in my opinion our strength is our versatility – we are not a mono-product brand. My strength is that I have a DolceVita, my strength is I have PrimaLuna, my strength is I have La Grande Classique, the Longines Master Collection, HydroConquest and Conquest. Talking about icons, Conquest, first launched in 1954, is an icon! And look at the Legend Diver, also from the 1950s, look at Ultra-Chron from 1967, which was relaunched recently, look at our flyback chronographs. My point is that we have many, many icons. The versatility is our strength, and I’m glad we are not at the mercy of a mono-product strategy.
Many brands are no longer defining their watches by male and female, going in a more unisex direction. What is your stand on that?
You can find a lady wearing a 40-plus millimeter, and man wearing 36, 37, 38 as well. But it is not only about size. At Longines we have been strong in developing ladies’ watches for so long, and by that I don’t mean male watches made smaller. I mean feminine watches, and I think male and female collections needs to stay as this is one of our many strengths. But today our DolceVita has a male and a female collection, our La Grand Classique also. PrimaLuna on the other hand is a purely feminine collection, and for me it is important to keep ladies’ collections as a clear, distinct pillar.
Why?
Because they represent half of the world! We have to speak their language, you have to give them attention, you have to address them with the importance they deserve. To me, men and women are complementary, and if we believe in this concept, watches for men and women should at a certain point also be complementary. And not like a fusion where the identity is lost.
Skiing and sports, how do they affect sales?
Everybody has done sales since forever, since humankind. My mission is to have Longines in people’s hearts. Because when Longines is in the hearts, it means that it is always top of mind, and most likely your next purchase. This is why we have been involved in sports like alpine skiing for more than 100 years – back in 1924 we started timing ski races close to our factory in St. Imier. Why? Apart from the reliability and credibility that comes with precision timekeeping, sports evoke emotions. Have you seen the athletes on the finish line? Have you seen the horses when they are winning a race, a jockey winning the Longines Hong Kong International Races or the Dubai World Cup? Through sports, and through the relationships we build around sports, we touch people’s emotions. And if you touch people’s emotions, sales will follow. I have a saying: If you take care of your relationships, the relationships will take care of business. It is about building a community, and when we build a community around positive values, sales will follow.
