Longines watches

Longines watch history The Longines story begins in 1866, when Ernest Francillon constructed a factory on fields at 'Es Longines' near to St Imier in Switzerland. He brought all of the area's watch making skills under one roof - which became the first Longines factory.

The company began producing chronograph watches in 1879 and registered its "Winged Hourglass" trademark in May of 1890. In 1912, it produced the first automatic timekeeping device.

Longines went on to develop aviator watches and cockpit instruments. Its strong connection with early aviation provided first-class flight instruments for airplanes from the 1920s onward. It was Longines who timed the 1927 trans-Atlantic crossing of Charles Lindbergh in the 'Spirit of St Louis'. Longines equipment was also used on the plane "The City of New York" which was piloted by Collyer and Mears when they broke an around the world record in 1928.

Leading the field as timekeepers to the world of sports, Longines developed precision stop watches for athletes. The brand became part of the Olympic Games and ensured that athletes' performances were accurately recorded. From that day Longines has long been associated with time-keeping at major sporting events.

Longines was also the first company in the world to enable on screen time display during live televised events; this being in 1970 during a World Cup downhill skiing race in St. Moritz Switzerland.

As well as having a top-quality luxury range of watches, by the time Longines celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1967, the St Imier watchmakers had made 15 million watches and sold them all.

Longines has been at the forefront of many wristwatch innovations. In 1960 it developed the world's thinnest electromagnetic watch measuring an amazing 0.98mm in depth. In 1969 they developed the Ultra-Quartz, the world's first cybernetic, electronic quartz watch. And in 1972 Longines was the first watch manufacturer in the world to bring out a watch that used a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).

In 1979, Longines collaborated with other watch brands to develop the "Feuille d'Or", the world's thinnest quartz watch at the time. Then in 1984 Longines released the famous 'Conquest VHP' (Very High Precision). This was a watch that broke a number of accuracy records at the time having a time variance of only 12 seconds per year.

Having released its first wristwatch in 1905, by 2001 Longines had sold over 30 million - a testimony to the excellence and longevity of the Longines brand. A virtually inexhaustible mine of reasonably priced collectors' items, Longines models range from pocket chronometers to classic wrist-watches and milestones of quartz technology.

Each model delivers a unique combination of precision and elegance, renowned for extremely accurate and high quality movements and a classic timeless look.

Types of Longines watches The watches available in the Longines range are: Admiral , BelleArti, Conquest, Dolce Vita, Evidenza, Flagship, Grande Vitesse, Heritage, Hydro Conquest, Istituto Idrografico R. Marina, Le Grande Classique, Les Ravissantes, Master Collection, Prestige Gold, Spirit, Sport Legends.

If you would like to see a selection of Longines watches please follow the link Longines watches.

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