History of Longines Watches

The company was founded in 1832 at Saint-Imier in Switzerland and is one of the largest
watchmakers in the world today. The founder was a man named Auguste Agassiz. The brand is now
counted among the top luxury watchmakers in the world.

A few years after the establishment of the company, it became a large success in the United States.
In 1867, the company developed its first movement, which was called the 20A. The calibre had an
anchor escapement, along with a pendant winding and setting mechanism which was quite
advanced at that time. That same year, it was featured in the Universal Exhibition in Paris and won
an award. About nine years later, a technical director at the company visited the United States and
came back with an idea that catalysed the entire Swiss watchmaking industry. Longines pioneered
mechanical production of watches in Switzerland. It was just one of the many firsts that the
company is credited for. Just a couple of years later, the brand created a simple chronograph
movement. Longines soon became a major supplier of chronographs to sports officials in the United
States.
In 1888, the brand developed its first chronometer certified movement, the calibre 21.59. The
success of this achievement can be credited to the mechanised production system developed by the
company a few years ago. The chronometer certified movement was actually an adaption of an
earlier movement that was created ten years ago.
In 1900, Longines won the Grand Prix award at the Universal Exhibition in Paris with a pocket watch
that was driven by the chronometer certified calibre 21.59 movement. In 1912, the company
pioneered another development at the Federal Gymnastics Festival in Basel. It created the first
electromechanical sports timing system which utilised wires to start or stop the watch. Just a year
later, the brand developed the first calibre for wrist watches, the 13.33Z, which was accurate to one-
fifth of a second.
In 1919, Longines began its association with aviation by becoming official supplier to the
International Aeronautical Federation. In 1927, Longines teamed up with US Navy Officer Philip Van
Horn Weems to create a rotating disc watch, which allowed synchronization of the seconds hand
with the GMT signal, thus enabling navigation. It was called the Longines Weems Second-Setting
Watch. In 1931, Longines created the Lindbergh Hour Angle watch. The navigational instrument was
actually developed by the famous pilot, Charles A. Lindbergh after his first non-stop solo flight over
the North Atlantic in 1927. The watch can be used along with a sextant and nautical almanac to
calculate the longitude in mid-air.
Longines developed its first self winding movement in 1945, the calibre 22A. Soon, the company
used the technology in large-scale production, and changed the way people viewed mechanical
watches. Two years later, the company introduced a hand wound mechanical movement that had a
chronograph function. It was the calibre 30CH. In 1954, the brand developed its first quartz clock. In
1964, Longines timed Donald Campbell when he set the world land speed record in his Bluebird II
car.
Over the years, the brand has produced many more product innovations and continues to do so
even today.
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most selling Longines Watches.