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 onefifth 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