Mohsin Issa — watch collection

About Mohsin Issa’s watch collection

Mohsin Issa is a British entrepreneur and billionaire best known as the co-founder and co-CEO of EG Group, the Blackburn-based petrol forecourt and convenience retail giant he built alongside his brother Zuber from a single fuel station in 2001 into a global operation spanning thousands of sites across Europe, North America, and Australia. His profile rose sharply in 2021 when he and Zuber, backed by private equity firm TDR Capital, completed a roughly £6.8 billion acquisition of ASDA from Walmart — one of the largest leveraged buyouts in British retail history. Issa sits among a relatively small group of self-made British-Asian billionaires who built their fortunes in traditional, logistics-heavy industries rather than tech, which makes him a distinctive figure in the UK business landscape.

The Mohsin Issa watch collection, as far as sightings allow us to document, points firmly toward Patek Philippe — and not the entry-level end of the catalogue. He has been photographed wearing the Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph in 18K rose gold, reference 5980R, a piece that requires both knowledge and patience to acquire. The 5980R is a flyback chronograph built on the integrated bracelet Nautilus case, introduced in 2006 to mark the Nautilus line's 30th anniversary. It runs on the calibre CH 28-520 C FUS movement and pairs a salmon-toned dial with the porthole-shaped case that Gerald Genta originally drew on a paper napkin in 1976. Rose gold Nautilus chronographs occupy a tier where supply has never come close to meeting demand, and the 5980R in particular commands a significant premium on the secondary market.

What the collection reflects, even from a single confirmed sighting, is a preference for pieces that carry horological weight without needing to announce themselves loudly. The Nautilus is recognisable to those who know watches and largely invisible to those who do not — a quality that tends to appeal to entrepreneurs who built wealth through hard work in unglamorous sectors rather than through public-facing celebrity. It is a considered choice from someone who appears to have done his research.