Breaking News – New President at Omega – Stephen Urquhart to retire, Raynald Aeschlimann to take over

Taking the opportunity of his forthcoming 70th birthday, Mr. Stephen Urquhart, actual President of Omega Watches (since 2000), is about to retire and to leave his seat to a younger man, Mr. Raynald Aeschlimann. Starting his new role on 1 June 2016, Aeschlimann will have the responsibility to guide one of the largest watch company around the world, Omega Watches, part of the main watch conglomerate, the Swatch Group.

Mr. Stephen Urquhart, actual President of Omega Watches (credits – chronos24.pl)

Stephen Urquhart, Swiss and British citizen and actual President of Omega Watches, began his career at Omega in 1968. From 1974 to 1997 he pursued his career with Audemars Piguet, where he became Joint Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors from 1989 onwards. Mr. Urquhart returned to Swatch Group in 1997 as President of Blancpain. Since 2000, he has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board and President of Omega. He was responsible for the impressive growth of the brand, the implementation of the Co-Axial escapement in all the collections of the brand, the development of several lines of watches and more recently, the introduction of the antimagnetic movements and the Master Chronometer Certification (developed jointly with METAS). Now close to his 70th anniversary, he’s about to retire and leave his seat to another known face of Omega, Raynald Aeschlimann. Stephen Urquhart will remain closely associated with the Swatch Group and will be available for special projects and consultancy assignments.

Rainald Aeschlimann, actual Vice President (VP) Sales and future President at Omega

On 1 June 2016, the seat of President at Omega Watches will be occupied by Raynald Aeschlimann, Vice President (VP) Sales at Omega since 2001 and a Member of the Extended Group Management Board of the Swatch Group since 2013. Swiss citizen, he joined Omega in 1996 as Sales and Marketing Project Manager. He was also Brand Manager of Omega and Blancpain Spain in 2000 and has been the Group Coordinator for the Swatch Group’s Indian subsidiary since 2010. He had previously worked at Longines and Complementa AG in St. Gallen from 1992 to 1996 (also part of the Swatch Group). He will have the car task to continue the developments engaged by Stephen Urquhart and to maintain the strong position of Omega Watches around the world. Considering the already strong implication of Aeschlimann in the management of Omega Watches, we’re not expecting to see dramatic changes in a close future, whether on the products or the strategy of the Biel-based company.

Source: official press release of Omega Watches and official website of the Swatch Group.