Longines states that its history began in 1832 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, when Auguste Agassiz founded a watchmakers’ concern organized as a comptoir d’établissage. On the museum page, the company says watches were made at home by peasants, then finished, assembled, and sold by Agassiz. The same page says the business already had an international reach at that stage, including sales in the United States. It also states that Ernest Francillon, Agassiz’s nephew, settled in Saint-Imier in 1854 and later took over the family business.
According to the museum page, Francillon inaugurated the first factory in 1867, bringing the procedures needed to make timepieces together under one roof. The same source says he chose the winged hourglass logo for the factory’s products and gave the watches the name of the place where the building stood, establishing the Longines brand name. The museum also says Longines had been developing sports timing technologies with increasing precision since 1878.
On its official site, watch families include Master, Conquest, Spirit, Elegance, and Heritage. The site lists examples such as Master Collection, Master Collection Chronograph, Master Collection Moonphase, The Longines Master Collection GMT, Conquest, Conquest Classic, Conquest Chronograph, HydroConquest, HydroConquest GMT, Longines Spirit, Longines Spirit Zulu Time, Longines Spirit Flyback, Longines Spirit Chronograph, Longines Spirit Pilot, Mini DolceVita, Longines DolceVita, Longines Primaluna, Flagship Classic, Evidenza, Record, Elegant Collection, La Grande Classique, Longines Legend Diver, Ultra-Chron, Longines Pilot Majetek, Conquest Heritage, and Heritage Classic.
Longines says it is based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Its museum page gives the museum address as Les Longines 8, CH-2610 St-Imier, and says the buildings there house the headquarters, workshops, and museum. On its human resources page, the company says it is established in more than 150 countries, has 35 subsidiaries on five continents, and employs nearly 560 people in Switzerland and about 740 outside Switzerland. The museum page says the museum was renovated and restructured in 2012.
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