Longines meets the competition at the Universal Exhibition in Philadelphia (1876)

The 1876 Universal Exhibition held in Philadelphia is generally regarded as being the starting point for the process of the industrialisation of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which was still based on a production system governed by the établissage organisational method, in spite of some attempts to question this system (the most successful such attempt being that of Longines). By indirectly setting Swiss watch production against that of the American manufacturers, in particular at the Waltham and Elgin factories, the exhibition provided an opportunity for the delegate from the Société Intercantonale des industries du Jura, Jacques David, to evaluate the emergence of the competition, which was as unexpected as it was serious. Returning from the United States armed with a report containing disturbing findings about how far Swiss watchmakers – firmly rooted in a concept for the organisation of labour which had contributed much to regional development – were falling behind, Jacques David, the engineer at the Longines factory, paved the way for a new production concept which would enable the Swiss watchmaking industry to affirm its expertise within the framework of a different production system, more suited to supporting its firm resolution to fight the threat of the transatlantic competition which was a cause for concern from many points of view. But while Swiss watchmakers were still putting up resistance to the introduction of machine tools, Longines (thanks to Francillon’s intuition and David’s efforts) played a pioneering role in the process of the mechanisation – albeit partial – of watch production.