Today, Longines is one of the most successful Swiss watch brands and Longines timepieces can be found in many sports. One of the reasons for this is that Longines has a rich company history. After all, the brand has been writing watch history for over 180 years. Today, we’ll explore the evolution of Longines and the successes the luxury watch manufacturer has achieved in that time.
Foundation Period
The history of Longines begins in 1832, when Auguste Agassiz founded a watchmaking workshop with a few fellow watchmakers. As was customary at the time, the individual parts were made by the watchmakers at home and then assembled in the workshop. Twenty years later, Agassiz’s nephew Ernest Francillon took over the workshop and revolutionized production. He created a factory in which all watch parts were manufactured under one roof, thus encouraging cooperation between the craftsmen. At the same time, he introduced the first mechanical production system. The factory was built on a field called “Es Longines,” which ultimately gave the brand its name. The company’s headquarters have remained unchanged since the factory opened in 1867 – Longines watches are still manufactured there today. However, Francillon was not only a pioneer in terms of production methods, but also in terms of counterfeit protection. Every watch that left the factory was marked with a serial number, the engraved name Longines and the winged hourglass. He also had the trademark for the Longines name registered as soon as he could.
Early Successes
The pocket chronograph (Caliber 20H), developed at the end of the 1870s, was Longines’ first great success. The watch’s start, stop, and reset functions were controlled by a crown pusher. Numerous stopwatches were equipped with this caliber, most of which were used at American racetracks in the 1880s. The caliber was also used in wristwatch chronographs and made Longines famous.
Maximum Precision on Land, in the Water, and in the Air
Longines has always been the brand of choice for athletes. The brand continues to be the official timekeeper for many sporting events and pioneered timekeeping in skiing. But it’s not only on land that Longines has set the bar. The famous rotating bezel, now an integral part of diving watches, was developed by Longines. Of course you can still find it in the portfolio today – for example, in the Longines HydroConquest.
For all its success, the brand has remained down-to-earth, which is particularly evident in its pricing. But it has also taken off in the truest sense of the word. Many aviation pioneers relied on the precision of a Longines timepiece during their adventures. The brand not only ran the timekeeping for Lindbergh’s first Atlantic crossing, but also worked with him to develop a wristwatch that could be used to quickly and easily determine longitude during the flight – the still-famous hour angle watch. For pilots, a chronograph was developed that made timekeeping even easier and faster. The Flyback Chronograph allowed a new measurement to be taken without having to reset. It has been an integral part of Longines watch collections since the 1920s, for example in the current Spirit line.
Of course, Longines was not content with being a brand for athletes: The company produced its first women’s watches in 1903, and still has a diverse collection of timelessly elegant ladies models. Both men’s and women’s Longines models carry the design DNA of classic elegance and combine it with sophisticated technology. Because at Longines, precision is not just for athletes and pioneers, but also for all the everyday heros.
Quartz Crisis and Beyond
As a timekeeper at various competitions, Longines developed an early interest in quartz watches. They have been an integral part of the Longines wristwatch range since 1969 and are still renowned for their high quality and accuracy. But the quartz crisis, which suddenly turned watches into a mass-produced commodity, did not leave Longines unscathed. The brand was finally integrated into the Swatch Group in 1983, at which point Longines also ceased production of movements.
Nevertheless, Longines has succeeded in bringing its heritage into the present: Both at sporting events and on the wrist, the brand continues to be present and appreciated by watch enthusiasts and professionals. Famous brand ambassadors such as actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Winslet and talented skier Marco Odermatt carry this reputation out into the world. And I, for one, hope to see Longines’ own calibers again soon. The brand has long been famous for its calibers and hopefully will be again in the future.
