watch

Swatch Group is exceptional

Longines becomes part of Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie (SMH), now renamed Swatch Group, the world watchmaking leader founded by Nicolas G. Hayek.

The Saint-Imier watchmaking establishment founded by August Agassiz and his two partners make and sell pocket watches with crown-wheel escapements similar to those produced by the Swiss watchmaking industry in general.

Longines presents The Longines Master Collection Retrograde, timepieces that put the finishing touch to a range devoted to watchmaking tradition. Two versions of a self-winding movement equipped with retrograde functions are specially developed for these watches.

Longines asks artist Serge Manzon to create a line of watches notably different from its classic collections.The company seeks a talented designer capable of reimagining the wristwatch—capable of transforming a belt buckle into a watch case … The result is a series of soft, pure, and supple forms – sculptures in silver that are both aesthetic and contemporary.

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and Longines sign a partnership agreement whereby the watch brand is appointed top partner of the FEI. The President of the FEI, Her Royal Highness Princess Haya, and Nayla Hayek, President of the Administrative Board of the Swatch Group, both sign the contract. Longines is now the official timekeeper and the official watch for the FEI.

Longines presents a quartz watch that is only 1.98 mm thick. The first timepiece to break the 2 mm barrier, its extremely slender calibre is the result of the development of specific technology. Named Feuille d'Or ('Gold Leaf'), this watch is a wonder of technological achievement.

The top-secret Project Hourglass, the aim of which was to design and manufacture a quartz watch, is revived in 1969 when Longines launches the first cybernetic quartz calibre for a wristwatch, the L6512, named Ultra-Quartz.

All the factory’s watches bear the Longines name on the dial. A winged hourglass is also engraved on the movements.

The company begins developing shaped movements and produces a range of oval and rectangular calibres for wristwatches.

Launch of the L788 calibre, a column wheel movement exclusively developed for Longines which allows control of the various chronograph functions – start, stop and reset – by simply pressing the single push-piece integrated into the crown. It is based on the first movement for a wristwatch produced by Longines, in 1913: the 13.33Z calibre. The pilot’s watch The Longines Avigation Watch Type A-7, which features an angled dial and is inspired by models developed in the 1930s, uses this movement.

Longines creates the Longines evidenza collection of barrel-shaped watches which demonstrate the affirmation of elegance, style and tradition.

US Navy officer Philip Van Horn Weems develops the ‘Weems System of Navigation’, a series of navigational devices, based on which he and Longines develop a rotating disc watch, enabling the wearer to synchronise the second hand with a GMT signal, essential for navigation: the Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch. A patent for this timekeeper is filed in 1935.

Longines celebrates the year of the horse by launching a pocket watch in rose gold: the Longines Equestrian Lepine. The back of this exceptional piece is adorned with a horse jumping an obstacle and its inspiration was drawn from a metal Lépine pocket watch dating from 1927 and kept at the Longines Museum in Saint-Imier (BE).

The first system of electromechanical sports timing – using wires which when broken respectively start or stop the watch – is used at the Federal Gymnastics Festival in Basel.

Longines develops its first calibre for a wristwatch with a single push-piece: the 13.33Z. This movement of superior quality is 29 mm in diameter, includes a 30-minute instantaneous counter, and is accurate to within one-fifth of a second.

Wishing to assess the options offered by technologies beyond traditional watchmaking, Longines designs an electromechanical calibre intended for observatory competitions and powered by a 1.35 V mercury battery: the L400 movement.

Launch of the Longines Saint-Imier Collection, a tribute to the village where the company was born and where it still remains today. This collection is made up of watches moved by some of the brand’s most prestigious mechanical calibres and is inspired by both its heritage of watchmaking know-how and its roots. A collection that remains faithful to the Longines values: tradition, elegance, quality and accuracy.

Taking up a role that it held in 1962 in Perth, Australia, Longines took part as Official Partner, Official Chronometer and Official Watch of Glasgow 2014. The XXth Commonwealth Games presented 17 sports over 11 days of competition.

Longines presents a new column wheel chronograph movement, the L688. This prestigious, self-winding mechanical calibre is used in particular for the watches of the Longines Saint-Imier Collection, launched in 2012.

Colourful models are added to the HydroConquest collection of diving watches par excellence. The screw-in case back and crown and the lateral protection for the crown ensure water-resistance to 30 bars. In order to ensure maximum safety while diving, these models are fitted with a unidirectional rotating bezel in red, black or blue, and the hands are coated with Super-LumiNova® to provide easy reading under all conditions. The watch is fitted on a bracelet with a double safety folding clasp and a special diving extension.

The company launches the 276 VHP (Very High Precision) calibre, a quartz movement of very high precision equipped with a technology that neutralises the effects of temperature variations. This movement is used in the watches of the Conquest collection.

The factory creates a calibre for a legendary wristwatch, the 13ZN, produced in various versions, with one or two push-pieces, with a semi-instantaneous 30-minute counter or a 60-minute continuous counter. Longines files a patent for this calibre, one of the most remarkable in its history.

Produced in collaboration with Ebauche SA and Texas Instruments Incorporated, the Longines LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is the first digital watch created by the brand. It receives the important IR100 award (Annual Industrial Research Conference and Awards).

The factory develops a mechanical self-winding calibre, the L990, with two barrels placed on the same level. With a height of only 2.95 mm, it is the world’s flattest self-winding movement of its kind. At a time when quartz is dominating the output of many watchmakers, it strengthens Longines’ range of mechanical movements.

Longines creates the Longines DolceVita collection, a line expressing contemporary aesthetics which meets with great success due to its modern reinterpretation of watchmaking elegance. This range is a particular hit with younger consumers and brings a touch of class to feminine wrists.

As global trends show a renewed preference for mechanical movements, Longines introduces a collection intended to perpetuate its long watchmaking tradition. The Longines Master Collection is composed entirely of models with mechanical movements, most of which are self-winding.

Longines wins the Grand Prix at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900 with a pocket watch named La Renommée, containing the 21.59-calibre chronometer. Longines wins more Grands Prix than any other brand at these events.

The brand with the winged hourglass logo launches the Agassiz line in 18-carat gold: classic, ultra-thin watches that will lead to the development of Longines’ La Grande Classique, an emblematic collection which proves an immediate and enduring success.

On June 16 2013, at Chantilly, Louis Romanet, IFHA Chairman and Walter von Känel, President of Longines, announce the signature of a long term partnership between the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) and Longines. According to this agreement, Longines becomes the Official Partner and the Official Watch of IFHA.

Longines develops a calibre specifically intended for observatory competitions: the 360. The generous size of the rectangular movement houses a large barrel spring and enables the use of a wide sprung balance, oscillating at a frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour, for even greater accuracy. The 360 calibre sets new records for accuracy in the wristwatch category at the Neuchâtel Observatory.

Having made his famous non-stop solo flight over the North Atlantic in 1927, pilot Charles A. Lindbergh designs a navigational instrument which he has Longines bring to life. Used in conjunction with a sextant and a nautical almanac, the Lindbergh Hour Angle watch – based on the model Weems created in 1927 – helps aviators calculate longitude which, when combined with their latitude, gives them their exact geographical situation.

With its new mechanical procedures, Longines produces a simple chronograph movement, the 20H calibre, patented by the watchmaker Alfred Lugrin. This is the first mechanism manufactured by Longines that can be used for precise timing, an area in which the brand will invest heavily from the end of the 19th century.

To celebrate the 160th anniversary of its existence and 125 years of the use of its brand name and logo, Nicolas G. Hayek, founder and president of Swatch Group, and Walter von Känel, president of Longines, inaugurate the Longines Museum at the company’s headquarters in Saint-Imier, with a gallery retracing the company’s history.

Jacques David, technical director at Longines, goes to the United States for the Universal Exhibition, held in Philadelphia, as a delegate of the Société Intercantonale des Industries du Jura ('Intercantonal Industrial Society of the Jura'). The report he writes upon his return is generally regarded as being the catalyst for the industrialisation of Swiss watchmaking, which at the time was still based on the system of établissage, characterized by a network of highly specialised artisans working independently. Thanks to Francillon’s intuition and David’s hard work, Longines is able to be a pioneer in mechanised production.

On the strength of its rich history, illustrated in particular by the incredible feats of the first aviators, Longines presents the Longines Avigation Oversize Crown model, a watch in the brand's line of special aviation timepieces created to meet the needs of pilots.This creation, fitted with a mechanical, self-winding movement, is available in three versions, all in steel. The simple version (hours, minutes, seconds and date) is complemented by a model with a second time-zone and a single push-piece chronograph, fitted with the exclusive L788 movement.

Longines: Elegance, tradition and performance