Longines

Longines began in 1832, when Auguste Agassiz took over a trading house in Saint-Imier that assembled watches from parts made by home workers. His nephew Ernest Francillon brought production under one roof in 1867 in a factory on a meadow called Les Longines, which named the company, and the same year produced the first in-house calibre, the 20A. The winged hourglass mark, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged trademark still registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The company built its reputation on precision and timing: chronograph movements from 1878, sports timing from the early twentieth century, and navigation watches developed with Philip Van Horn Weems and Charles Lindbergh, whose Hour Angle watch dates from 1931. The 13ZN flyback chronograph calibre of 1936 remains a reference among collectors. Longines joined ASUAG in 1971 and has been part of the Swatch Group since its formation in 1983; its current lines include the Master Collection, HydroConquest, Spirit and Conquest.