Longines watches have a long tradition and look back upon an eventful history. Today, Longines is a well-known brand; Some of us are wearing a Longines watch right now, or are planning to add another Longines watch to our collection.
But what is the story behind Longines watches’ rise to popularity? Who created the first Longines watch? And how did Longines watches get their name? In 1832, Auguste Agassiz founded a comptoir in the village of Saint-Imier, in Switzerland’s Jura region. Agassiz then became an active participant in the watch business known as “Comptoir Raiguel Jeune.” As of 1838, this business became known as “Agassiz & Compagnie,” which would develop into what we know today as the Longines watch company. The timepieces produced by this company, the predecessors to today’s Longines watches, developed a reputation for quality that extended far beyond the Swiss border. Another important figure in the history of Longines watches is Ernest Francillon, the man behind many of the brand’s innovations. Francillon’s mission was to replace the mostly handmade individual timepieces with precise, serially manufactured products. In 1867, he started to construct a new factory building for the company, locating it beside a river in an area called “Les Longines,” which means “the long meadows” in the local dialect. The new Longines watches attained great success but also attracted unscrupulous counterfeiters. To defend against fakes, Longines developed the winged hourglass logo that’s still engraved on many of the company’s movements and cases, the legally protected trademark of Longines watches. The Longines story is full of innovative timepieces, from early ones like the Lépine Caliber 18 L to later pieces like the Longines Evidenza and Longines LungoMare. Some innovative technological advances made for Longines watches, such as the “Vibrograph,” a device for controlling the rate of watches, debuted in 1946. While continuing to create mechanical timekeepers, the company also pioneered innovations in quartz technology for its Longines watches. One was the first portable quartz clock, in 1954, which exceeded its era’s requirements for precision and reliability. Longines watches still incorporate both technologies today; both quartz and mechanical have been represented in the brand’s diverse product portfolio for many decades. Today Longines is part of the Swatch Group, which has ensured that Longines watches have continued to evolve over the years, exactly as Francillon and his successors might have wished. The spirit of those early pioneers is still alive and well in Longines’ longtime CEO, Walter von Känel, a resident of Saint-Imier since 1945. He said, “I’ve always been fascinated by watchmaking. Watchmaking shaped our whole region in those days, and I secretly knew that it would one day offer me the opportunity to discover the great wide world.” He was right. Winton is a trademark used in commerce since May 01, 1919. It was originally owned by “Hipp. Didisheim Company, Inc.” in New York, NY. Didisheim also owned the trademark Nassau; the trademarks (and Didisheim’s business) were transferred around 1940 (?) to a company “L. Adels Company”, New York, NY. Said company was owned by Louis Adels. Adels owned the trademarks SLEDA (used since April 1925), ELBON (used since September 1927) and LACO (since 1922); LACO is the abbreviation of “Louis Adels COmpany” and isn’t to be mistaken with the German trademark “Laco” of LAner & CO”. Foundation of L. Adels Company probably was around 1922. Louis Adels sold his watches under his several brands, mainly under “Winton”, “Elbon”, “Nassau” and “LACO”, but also “Marc Nicolet” branded watch was sold by Adels/Winton Watch Co. Adels had an ad in Swiss Watch Magazine “La Féderation Horlogère Suisse” of 13. June 1934: In fact, Winton watch movements were quality movements made by well-known Swiss makers of the Èbauches SA Group, namely by A.Schild, Aurore, ETA, Felsa, Fontainemelon and Unitas. Only the caliber 523 was made by a non-Swiss company, namely German company Durowe (Durowe 202) what’s a little bit funny, because Durowe was owned by German company… Laco. The movements are signed in several ways;
All have an import code LXA. By coincidence I found a checklist listing all Winton calibers and explaining, what the caliber really is (e.g. Winton 86 = Felsa 690). That is the “Marshall Handy Manual” of 1966: https://watchguy.co.uk/technical/Marsha ... %20Manual/ You’ll need part 2 (pages NC 138 to NC 141) for the checklist and part 5 (pages INF 2 to INF 5 and INF 9) for the explanation of maker codes and for the abbreviations used. From this list I extracted the automatic calibers: In the very few discussions on the internet you will read about Adels that he “was an importer of Watches”. Well, this is not quite exact. Yes, he imported the movements from Switzerland, but the watches were at least mostly “cased and timed in New York” (quote from a legend of an Elbon box). Adels used cases made by US Case Maker Companies, i.a. I.D. Watch Case Co. Inc., Commodore Watch Case Co., Major Watch Case International Corp. (all of New York City, NY), Lapwell Watch Case Corp., Greenvale, NY and by Pioneer Watch Case Co., Inc., Mount Vernon, N.Y. These are at least the Case makers I’ve seen so far present on cases of Winton watches (as well as on the other brands, like Nassau, Elbon, LACO). So, Winton watches aren’t much differing from other US brands: quality Swiss movements in a US watch case. Why don’t they have the same reputation like – for example – a Hamilton Kinematic? The Kinematic I (and a number of Accumatics) has a grade 672, that is in fact an ETA 1256 - the same movement may be found in a comparable Winton of the 50's and 60's. I don’t know, maybe Adels simply had too many brands or it's just because Adels did not spend enough money for advertising his brand(s), maybe he outfitted too many private labels. In any case, in the hunt for a vintage watch as we always say: a “no-name” watch you can get for under $100 can be as much as interesting as a top $$$$$ collector’s dream – it might be a Cinderella, you just have to find the matching shoe! On July 1st, 1853, Charles-Félicien Tissot, a fitter of gold cases, founded Ch. Félicien Tissot & Fils in Le Locle in the Jura, with his son Charles-Emile Tissot, a watchmaker. Tissot began life as a “comptoir d’établissage”, which consisted of a network of independent workers who were highly specialized and who produced the different watch parts, to then be further assembled and sold at the “comptoir”. Tissot’s timepieces focus was on pocket watches, luxurious pendant watches or complication watches, at that time mainly destined mainly for the United States market. In 1858, the founding son, Charles Emile Tissot, left Switzerland for Russia and successfully sold Tissot ‘Savonnette' pocket watches across the huge and influential Russian empire, starting off by selling hunter watches to the officers guarding the Tsar’s palace. Tissot went on to gain a highly coveted Grand Prix award in 1900 in Paris, the same year in which the city would host the 2nd Olympic Games. At the same time, Tissot pioneered a long history of collaboration with its ambassadors, with one of its wristwatches being worn by the iconic actress Sarah Bernhardt, the most successful stage actress of her day. At the end of 1917, the limited company Chs. Tissot & Fils SA was created and became a manufacturer with the introduction of movement-blanks production. Within a few years, Tissot was able to create a formidable presence in the worldwide horological market. Mergers and the turbulent 20th century In 1930, Tissot and Omega merged to form the first Swiss watchmaking association, the SSIH (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère). Watches from the Tissot-Omega era are highly sought after by the collectors. Quartz, the 20th century’s greatest revolution in the watch industry, passed Switzerland by. Although the first quartz watch was developed at the Centre Electronique Horloger (CEH – Centre for Electronic Watches) in Neuchâtel in 1967, Swiss watchmakers did not capitalize on this innovation. By the 1970s the Swiss watchmaking industry was in serious crisis, arising from the advent of highly successful quartz watches, dominated by the Japanese. The Swiss watch industry would be saved when the watch was reborn as a fashion accessory - enter the Swatch. This analogue quartz watch, which combined high quality and exciting designs with a low price, was first released in 1983 and became a pop culture sensation and enormous global success in the 1980s. There is no doubt that the Swatch saved the Swiss watchmaking industry from its slump and helped boost it. Thirty years after the ‘crisis’ in the Swiss watch industry, it has now once again become one of the most prosperous economic sectors in Switzerland, and once more synonymous with Swiss quality and prestige. In 1983, Nicolas G. Hayek of Swatch, and who had been mandated to audit the Swiss watchmaking sector, recommended the merger of the main groups of watchmakers at the time: the SSIH (mainly Tissot and Omega) and ASUAG (a holding of the manufacturers of movement and component blanks). The group, which was then named SMH (Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd.), would become The Swatch Group in 1998, of which Tissot has been a part to this day. The Swatch Group is today the world's largest watch producer and distributor. Brand Recognition: “Tissot - more than a watch.” Heritage, Innovation & Global Prestige: Tissot is defined by its well-known slogan - 'Innovators by Tradition'. The company has proudly had its home in the town of Le Locle in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains since 1853, with a highly visible presence in 160 countries, including many luxurious Tissot boutiques and point of sales in high-end department and jewelry stores worldwide. Tissot's distribution spread is unmatched by any other Swiss watch company. Tissot’s enviable and groundbreaking innovation has enabled the development of high-tech products, special materials and advanced functionality. It has a broader, more versatile range of high-quality timepieces at an attractive price than any other Swiss watch brand, Tissot is also committed to making excellence that is affordable and accessible. Timeline:
Here are some interesting factoids about Tissot:
OMEGA (Ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and symbolizes accomplishment and perfection - qualities that have been inherent in every OMEGA watch since the company's founding by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 1848. The brand's reputation for innovation and quality has led to numerous awards over the company's 150-year history, starting as early as 1900 with the Grand Prix at the Paris World Fair and continuing with the world precision record of 97.8 points at the Kew-Teddington observatory in England in 1936. OMEGA went on to be official timekeeper at no less than 21 Olympic Games, bringing numerous innovations to Olympic sports over the years, such as the first electronic timekeeping at the Helsinki games in 1952 - the same year in which the company was awarded the Olympic Cross of Merit for its outstanding contribution to sport. Because its precision and reliability, OMEGA's Speedmaster watch was chosen by NASA as its official chronometer in 1965 and 4 years later was the first watch to be worn on the moon, when, on 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind. In more recent years, OMEGA has continued to build on its reputation for precision and innovation, presenting the world's first self-winding wristwatch with central tourbillon (launched in 1994) and the revolutionary coaxial escapement was developed in conjunction with renowned English master watchmaker George Daniels first offered in limited series in 1999. OMEGA owes a large part of its watchmaking excellence to the quality of its movements. These magnificent watches are highly collectible, and hold a very special place in many collectors showcases. There seems to be an aura about Omega watches that captivate this collector especially. History of OMEGA: 1825 • Birth of Louis Brandt. 1848 • Louis Brandt opened a Comptoir of établissage, a sales outlet for watches manufactures under sous-traitance. 1880 • The brothers Louis-Paul et César Brandt manufactured watches using modern procedures in Bienne. They signed their productions JURA, PATRIA, HELVETIA, CELTIC and GURZELEN. 1885 • The pallet caliber LABRADOR reached working precision of 30 seconds per day. 1889 • LOUIS BRANDT & Son became the biggest industrial company in Swiss horology, with and annual production of 100,000 watches. 1892 • Creation, in cooperation with AUDEMARS PIGUET, of the first minute repeater wristwatch in the world. 1894 • A new caliber of fob watches went into mass production and won popularity for the simplicity of its construction and the interchangeability of its parts. The banker Henri Rieckel suggested the name OMEGA. 1903 • The success of the new name led the firm to drop all other names. 1909 • For the first time, OMEGA ventured into sports chronometers, during the international balloon races, in particular the Gordon Bennett Cup. 1917 • The British Royal Airforce chose OMEGA watches for its squadrons. 1918 • The US Army followed suit in its choice of OMEGA. 1919 • OMEGA chronometers won the Neuchâtel Observatory precision prize, the first of around twenty collected by 1971. 1933 • OMEGA obtained the world record for precision. 1936 • OMEGA obtained its 2nd world record for precision. 1946 • World record for precision. 1957 • Creation of the OMEGA SPEEDMASTER wristwatch chronograph. 1965 • Following extremely exacting tests, NASA chose the SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL chronometer. 1967 • OMEGA obtained the millionth official certificate for precision for a chronometer. 1969 • On July 21, at 2H56 GMT, the astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. He was wearing an OMEGA SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL wristwatch. 1970 •At the request of Commander Cousteau, OMEGA created the SEAMASTER PROFESSIONAL 600 (known as the PLOPROF, from “plongeur professionnel” or professional diver). This completely water resistant watch, in its “monobloc” case with bolted winding crown and won the world record for deep-sea diving. 1972 • OMEGA obtained the 2,000,000th official precision certificate. 1974 • Launch of the marine MEGAQUARTZ chronometer. 1983 • Inauguration of the OMEGA Museum, December 16. 1995 • Introduction of the first wristwatch in the world with automatic winding crown and central tourbillon. 1999 • World first with the automatic 2500 caliber inspired by an invention by the English master watch-craftsman George Daniel, OMEGA perfected the CO-AXIAL ESCAPEMENT wristwatch and started mass production. 2001 • Launch of MUSEUM collection with re-issue of PILOT’S WATCH. 2002 • COSMIC MUSEUM Collection. 2003 •Launch of RAILMASTER. Launch of MUSEUM Collection N°4. Check out the link below. There are pictures and history of vintage Omega watches: http://www.omegamuseum.com/official |
Old Time WatchesI enjoy collecting mechanical (manual wind and automatic) and early electric and quartz timepieces. I take great pleasure in researching and writing about the companies and people that created these beautiful watches. PF
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