The oldest Longines watch found in Japan has been produced in 1867 (Tokyo, Japan)
June 24, 2010
On March 1st, Longines initiated a search for the oldest Longines watch in Japan to underline its historical and cultural connection with Japan as well as to discover the history behind Longines watches in the country. This campaign delighted a great number of Longines fans who participated with enthusiasm. Approaching 500 watches have been submitted and the results provided some surprises: very old watches of the early 19th century (that have been produced when Longines was still a small workshop in the town of Saint-Imier) have been discovered. The contest has revealed that the oldest watch with the Longines trademark in Japan has been produced in 1867. It is the property of a Japanese watch collector.
Based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, since 1832, the Longines Watch Co. Francillon Ltd. can look back on more than 175 years of watchmaking based on tradition, elegance and sport. Protected since 1889 in Switzerland, the company’s trademark, comprising a winged hourglass and the name Longines, is the oldest still active in its original form in the international registers managed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
In its early days, the firm was run by Auguste Agassiz and was a “comptoir” or trading office like many others that flourished in the area. In 1832, Auguste Agassi joined a watchmaking comptoir that is producing cottage industry watches since the last quarter of the 18th century, the comptoir Raiguel Jeune in Saint-Imier. At that time, the watchmaking industry was ruled by a specific system of production characterized by the independence of the different workshops. The watchmakers were buying all the components necessary to produce a watch from specialized workshops, were finalizing the product and were finally marketing it. Like all the watchmakers of that period, Longines did use in its early days movement-blanks that were produced by some factories like Japy in Beaucourt or Robert in Fontainemelon for instance.
The search for the oldest Longines watch in Japan has revealed that some collectors posses watches from that period. They are extremely rare and constitute an exceptional watchmaking treasure. They are the ancestors of the Longines watches.
In 1867 Ernest Francillon, Agassiz’s successor, decided to abandon the production methods that were typical of the Swiss watchmaking sector at the time. He brought together all his workers under one roof, introduced and developed mechanical means of production: the Longines factory was born. From then on, the works in Saint-Imier – operating under the winged hourglass emblem – steadily developed and produced many horological creations that gained international recognition. Longines won the most prizes at International and World exhibition (no fewer than 10 Grand Prix by the time of the World Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929) and also supplied timing apparatus for the new aviation sector. From 1919 Longines was involved with the most famous pioneers of aviation in their extraordinary feats (most notably Lindbergh’s famous solo, non-stop flight between New York and Paris). Longines also made a name for itself in sports timekeeping and designed timing equipment that gained the brand a worldwide reputation.
The oldest watch with the Longines trademark in Japan has been produced in 1867, the same year Francillon founded the Longines factory. It is referenced with the serial number 300 and some information concerning its production has been found in the archives of the company.
