History for the Longines Watch

The existence of the brand Longines

After the watch maker was founded in 1847 by Ernest, it was Agassiz who was the owner of the organization. To emphasize the ownership of the company Agassiz decided to define a new name: Agassiz & Compagnie. Francillon took over the company in 1850. At that moment of time he changed the directions for the organization. Francillon wanted to put more emphasis on expanding and improving the production of standard clock designs. As a result for the company growth and the high demand, the expansion for the plant was needed. Back in 1856 Francillon bought two pieces of land to on which he wanted the company to expand. This piece of land was popular known as "Les Longines”. This extension was a risky undertaking. But despite some setbacks, it was the continuation of Francillon that turned the expansion into a success.

The growth of the brand Longines

Back in 1867 the first internal clock works for a Longines watch were produced in the Longines factory. It was Francillon (then owner) who was the first person to introduce the wind up watch with a "wind rotary” of its own . Up to that time it was only possible to wind up the watches by means of a specific key. Partly as a result of this invention the Longines organization established a steady growth from 1870 onwards. At the beginning of 1900 Longines already had more than 1,100 employees and the watches were sold all over the world.

Many recognition and appreciation of Longines

With its watches Longines has won several prizes and became greatly appreciated in the watch market. Longines banter will be the title of the “best winner”.

Longines the sports watch brand

Already in the early days of the brand, Longines established as strong relationship with the world of sport. Building on the strong technology and knowledge available the brand established a unique relationship with the Olympic Games. Since the games in Oslo (1952) was the Longines brand that is responsible for identifying, registering and showing the times. But Longines did not stop there. Also at other sports events the brand Longines is present. The company established relationships with various sports in the gym, skiing and horseback riding. Longines provides various time observations on the various equestrian sports events such as World Championships, European Championships, Olympic Games but also the CSIO and Concours Hippique events worldwide. Recently we also see a prominent for the Longines brand at the Formula 1 and the Tour de France.

Developments in the collection

Longines is continuously looking for further development of watch technology and for ways to improve the precision and durability of the watch. It has an eye for new designs and is daring to even go the extra mile in the design ambitions. In 1960 Longines has grabbed the world record of the electromagnetic thinnest watch. In 1982, the watchmaker introduced a special Ferrari collection. This collection was designed to support the partnership that Longines signed with the Ferrari Formula 1 team.

Milestones Longines

On February 19, 2001 Longines brand reached the milestone of 30 million watches produced. And a year later there was another celebration. In 2002, the 170th anniversary of the Longines logo, the flying watch glass. In 2007 the watch brand celebrated its 175th birthday.

 

 

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