Longines brings timekeeping and timeless elegance to the Longines League of Nations Final in Barcelona

“Every rider taking part today is a fantastic rider with the best horses,” says Cecilie Hatteland, a celebrated Norwegian showjumper. “Anyone can win.” Hatteland is giving a slew of visiting press a tour of the 13-jump course that makes up the finals of the Longines League of Nations at the The Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. Hatteland herself will not be competing – Norway was not among the nine countries that qualified – so she gamely offers her expertise, demonstrating how competitors walk the course ahead of the first round of competition, measuring the metres between jumps with their steps. Swedish superstar Peder Fredricson strolls past, deep in concentration as he diligently counts the steps between a trio of jumps at the centre of the pitch: three pristine Longines obstacles, marked by their signature deep blue colourway and massive clock faces.

Though Longines has been involved in equestrian sport in one way or another since 1869, this marks the first ever Longines League of Nations season. The FEI’s nations cup series, it’s widely considered second only to the Olympics in terms of showjumping prestige. After a nail-biting second round, Germany claimed the crown, followed by The Netherlands with Fredricson and his teammates Henrik von Eckermann, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson claiming third for Sweden. At the awards ceremony, each member of the German team was handed a Longines Conquest Chronograph – the official watch of the competition – by Longines’ VP of Marketing Bernardo Tribolet (before spraying champagne over one another, natch).

Longines plays a vital role in the competition itself, providing precise timekeeping as the horses complete the course (points are docked both for knocking down obstacles and for going over a designated time). But there’s a deeper connection between Longines and equestrian sport. “They’re based on the same values,” says Tribolet. “They both have tradition and it’s all about elegance as well and there’s the performance part. It’s the perfect match – there’s no question.”

Growing up in Portugal, Tribolet attended his fair share of equestrian events with his uncle and grandfather, who were both in the Air Force (he learned to ride as a kid, but it’s been a minute since he’s been on a horse). Fittingly, one of the fist equestrian events for which Longines handled the timekeeping took place in Lisbon in 1912.

When it comes to showjumping, there’s an elegance both in the sport itself and among its spectators. In the stands at the Longines League of Nations finals, guests wore shades of taupe and beige, ballet flats or kitten heels, a relaxed blazer or crisp cotton shirt. It’s a quiet luxury that fits squarely with the Longines aesthetic. “There’s the aesthetic of the spectator and there’s also a lifestyle,” says Tribolet. “There’s a certain attitude – and Longines really fits with that. We have that DNA.”

Among the spectators wearing Longines was, of course, Tribolet himself, who wore the Legend Diver in a steel grey (it just released this past August). “I love this watch – it’s really an iconic watch for Longines,” he says. When he travels, however, he often wears the Spirit Zulu, one of the first luxury watches to offer a dual timezone. “The Zulu is the watch I wear the most, because it keeps me connected to my home time,” he says. “If I’m in Japan, suddenly, discreetly, I can look at my watch and say, ‘Sorry, I just have to make a fast phone call to wake up my wife’.”

Though it’s evident Tribolet could talk watches all day, on this particular day, he admits, it’s all about the sport itself and seeing who claims the championship. “Timekeeping is really the justification – why we’re here,” he says. “And our longterm relationship with the horses.”