Longines is a Swiss luxury watch brand with a company based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Auguste Agassiz founded the company in 1832. The company is a subsidiary of the Swatch Group and is one of its strongest brands.
Longines produces about one million watches per year and has a sales volume of around one billion. There is a high demand for these watches in the Asian markets and a substantial growth rate in the European and American markets. The company’s logo of the winged hourglass is the world’s oldest logo to be used continuously.
The brand offers beautiful and elegant watches for everyday wear. The main focus is on providing precision, reliability and good value. The watches are priced between 1000 to 4000 Swiss Francs and it is a market leader in the price segment.
Longines ambassadors possess different talents and come from different countries. They have a distinct style and are the best representatives of elegance. The ambassadors include leading actors, actresses, tennis players, professional riders, top skiers and more.
The company still functions from the Saint-Imier region since it was established in 1854 by Ernest Francillion. Initially, the watches were made by purchasing the parts from various locations and assembling them in the worker’s home. This caused inconvenience as parts had to be bought from suppliers located far away. Francillion solved this problem by starting a watchmaking factory.
The factory focused on the craftsmanship of the workers and the watches were made industrially. Quality standards were introduced and the production was streamlined and increased. All the watches were engraved with the word ‘Longines’. The winged hourglass guaranteed the authenticity of a Longines watch.
Longines – the global brand
In 1990 Longines expanded its international presence and decided to take over the sales in every region. This led to Longine becoming a significant global player. The company promotes elegance and performance with an emphasis on sports.
Longines decided to make updated watches based on its classic past models. This led to the creation of successful collections like the La Grande Classique de Longines and Longines Dolcevita. You can find the collections in the Authorised Longines watch showrooms in Mumbai.
- In 1913, Longines made the first wristwatch containing a hand-wound calibre of 13.33Z. The watch had a clear architecture and finely crafted steel components. Longine continued to make this timepiece till 1936. After that improvements were made in the manufacturing methods.
- In 1927, Lindbergh took off for a long-haul flight and asked Longiens to convert his ideas into ticking realities. The wristwatch was made in 1931 and its appearance and functionality caused a furor.
- In 1938, Longiend launched a Calibre 12.68Z with a 17-jewel movement. This is a less complex chronograph than the others. A simpler variant of the watch was also made available which debuted in elegant and sporty models in 1938.
- In 1939, the company launched the Siderograph which was available as a wristwatch, pocket watch and deck watch. This timepiece has a red hour hand, a black minute hand and two blue seconds hand as a part of the split-second mechanism.
- In 1945, Longines launched the bidirectional automatic winding system integrated with calibre 22A. It had an indirect central seconds hand and 36 hours of power reserve.
- In 1960, the company offered three lines of automatic watches called the Admiral, Conquest and Flagship. The new 340 family of calibre was used in the Flagship line of watches. Improvements were made and a date display in a window distinguished the watches.
- In 1964, Longines added the ‘Vernier scale to the tip of the catch-up hand of a split-second chronograph with 1/10 second accuracy.
- In 1969, Longines produced the first quartz watch and was ready for its serial production. The ultramodern microchips along with a little quartz oscillator were used.
- In 1977, after two years of research and development, the company launched the ‘E’ calibre family. It was later renamed L990. The watch had the world’s slimmest movements with automatic winding.
- In 1982, the concept of minimalist design had already inspired the brand’s founders. A compromise was made and the case and the calibre were combined to make a watch of less height.
- In 1995, the brand launched its elegant Conquest line which did not require a manual date change. A specially programmed chip was used.
- In 2009, the brand developed a new fully integrated chronograph mechanism with a classical column wheel. The ETA technicians designed a new switching mechanism with the smallest number of components. The watches provided a high degree of user-friendliness.