Advertising Exhibition Room

If we study reports and analyses that date back to the foundation of the company, it becomes clear that the technical dimension has always played a fundamental role in the history of Longines. The key decision taken by Longines in the second half of the 19th century was to bring all the workers together under one roof. This enabled the introduction of mechanical production methods and radically changed the way of working. This explanation of the origin of the Longines factory is more or less in line with the popular story of how it was formed, and to some extent it is supported by the structure of the Swiss watchmaking industry in the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, it ignores another equally important aspect of the company: its commercial activities.

Producing watches, however the work is organised, is not enough to ensure success; the watches also have to be sold. A sales and distribution system was soon recognised as being an essential counterpart of any production operation. The terminology in use at the time was clear: a person who ran a watchmaking service was a “manufacturer-seller”. In other words, the commercial side of watchmaking may have played a part in the foundation of the company and its success. Most importantly, the sales activities seem to fit in with the company’s decision to begin advertising, although this development was still in its infancy.

The Advertising Exhibition Room looks at the promotion of the brand and its products, from the first semi-advertising articles (mid-19th century) to the most recent campaigns. Through a series of engravings, signs and posters, it analyses how the company introduced and built an image for the brand with the flying hourglass, and the values linked to it.