The First World War: creations

From an industrial point of view, the first decade of the 20th century represented a period of extension, increased production and the development of new movement models. This period was brought to an end by the First World War and its consequences. In the context of strong demand for timepieces, with wristwatches gaining in importance, the technical department headed by Alfred Pfister was studying the construction of shaped movements, specially designed for timepieces to be worn on the wrist. These calibres, which were developed during the war, represented the first example of movements specifically created by Longines for wristwatches. The oval and rectangular shapes of these calibres, and consequently the shapes of the timepieces themselves, were a response to the aesthetic trends of the period.

But the beginning of the first global conflict interrupted the period of growth and consolidation which had begun for the factory at the end of the 19th century. The general mobilisation decreed in Switzerland emptied the workshops of their men, forcing horological matters to come to a standstill. The managers at Longines were obliged to suspend shipments and to impose short-time working. However, in order to counteract the economic consequences of the war, a process of diversification of production was initiated. Adapting the production equipment available, Longines manufactured prismatic compasses to send to England and sighting compasses for the United States. However, the necessity for this tentative diversification proved short-lived. In spite of the obstacles to trade, global demand for timepieces rapidly recovered strength in the majority of the world markets. While the spectre of unemployment (the managers’ great fear at the start of the conflict) vanished during the latter years of the war, it was the shortage of labour, particularly the workers that had been called up to serve in the armed forces, that represented the most damaging deficiency as far as the activities of the company were concerned.

Once the war was over, the technical office resumed the development of calibres, which had been put on hold during the last two years of the conflict. Even though a series of shaped movements intended for wristwatches had been developed in 1916, the innovation relating to the heart of the watch – the centre of the company’s industrial activities – experienced a period of stagnation which contrasts with the uninterrupted development of movements from 1867 onwards. In spite of the emergence of the wristwatch, supported as much by the needs of the military as by the directions in which female fashions were moving, the construction of the Longines calibre seemed temporarily to have reached a technological plateau. It was 1920 before the factory launched a movement with a power reserve of 8 days, which was used in a series of special pieces that included small clocks, office clocks, travel clocks, and clocks used in cars and planes. From an economic standpoint, the beginning of the 1920s was marked by a pronounced slowdown which plunged the watchmaking industry, albeit accustomed to putting up with the hazards inherent in business affairs, into an intense crisis.

In spite of the commercial lethargy prevailing at the beginning of the 1920s, the factory relaunched the process of movement development which had been interrupted by the war. For example, a special calibre with an alarm device was designed during this economically difficult period. In parallel, the company took part in competitions organised by observatories charged with verifying the operation of timepieces and certifying their accuracy. Longines obtained excellent results from the Washington observatory, where its on-board chronometers were often awarded first prize. In the context of the competition among watchmakers in matters of precision and reliability, the recognition provided by good results in observatory competitions was equivalent to a guarantee of production quality. Although Longines took part in the Geneva observatory competition in 1922, the “winged hourglass” was not to be seen in Neuchâtel for several years, but was frequently present at Teddington in England. The factory’s products appeared regularly in the upper echelons of observatory classifications.
However, the need for precision timepieces went beyond the ultimately commercially-based competition among manufacturers in the observatory competitions. The chronometer – a time measurement instrument the accuracy of which is certified by an observatory – constitutes an essential item of equipment in many fields. In 1923, for example, when French scientist Jean Lecarme led a scientific expedition on Mont Blanc, he took with him ten Longines chronometers.