Longines Watch Co

In 1832, Auguste Agassiz, Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel opened a watch shop in Saint-Imier. On a piece of land outside Saint-Imier, which was called les Longines ("the oblong meadows"), the factory was built where in 1867 pocket watches were made. To protect against counterfeiting, the name "Longines" was registered with the Federal Office of Intellectual Property. With the registration at the International Intellectual Property Office in March 1893, Longines became the oldest registered watch brand in the world.

In order to improve the quality of the watches, the company switched to precise series production as early as 1866. To protect against copycats, Longines applied for the protection of his trademark and had it registered under "Longines" in 1880 at the Swiss Federal Office for Social Property. As a trademark, he chose the winged hourglass that has survived until today in the logo of the company. As early as 1879, Longines initiated the development of a chronograph and Longines used this art with great intensity - the works 13.33 of 1910, the 13ZN of 1936 or the Caliber 30 CH of 1947 are sought-after collector's items to this day.

In 1905, Longines produced the first mechanically-made men's wristwatch, which gradually supplanted the pocket watch. The company focused on sports timing and supported scientific expeditions, such as: B. responsible for the time measurement of the historic Atlantic crossing of the aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh in 1927. In 1945, the first Longines automatic wristwatch came on the market, 1952, the company was official timekeeper of the Olympic Winter Games in Oslo.

The year of manufacture of Longines watches from the period 1870 to 1969 can be determined to about one year exactly by the serial number of production, which is engraved on the back or in the lid of spring cover clocks.

With the emergence of quartz watches as a mass product, the company came in the early 1980s as many watch manufacturers in economic difficulties and was integrated into the SMH Group / Swatch Group.