Longines

ABOUT THE BRAND

Founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, a town in the Swiss Jura mountains, Longines developed, as early as 1878, it’s first instrument for timing sport events: a chronograph pocket watch with a monopusher crown. Some years later, in 1889, Longines was already able to measure to 1/5 of a second. The 1880’s marked the start of Longines glorious history of sports timing at horse racing events in the United States. By working as a professional timekeeper of sporting events in nearly all disciplines and as a manufacturer of instruments for professionals like pilots, navigators, explorers and sportsmen.

Longines learnt a lot by working on professional timepieces, eventually transferring its know-how to wristwatches. To do so, the heart of the watch – the movement – often needed to be redesigned and miniaturized. Their watchmakers truly blazed the trail, manufacturing the first wrist chronograph in 1913, the fist high-frequency pocket chronograph ticking at 36,000 beats an hour in 1929, the world’s first wristwatch with rotating bezel in 1931 and patented the world’s first flyback-chronograph in 1936. To improve the precision of timing events, in 1954 Longines introduced the electronic quartz-clock. Using this know-how, their watchmakers launched one of the first quartz-wristwatches in 1969.

With generations of experience as Official Timekeeper of World Championships, and as partner of International Sports Federations, Longines has built strong and long-lasting relationships in the world of sport over the years. These challenges kept the drive for innovation and the pioneering spirit very much alive.