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. Comments are closed.
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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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September 2018
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