swatch group industry watch manufacturing founded 1832 headquarters saint imier switzerland key people walter von k nel president products wristwatches timing devices systems revenue 70.3 million 2009 number of employees 340 2009 parent the swatch group ltd. website www.longines.com a longines self winding watch with several horology complications chronograph moon phase day date and month display . longines french pronunciation l in lawn zheen is a luxury watch company based in saint imier switzerland . founded by auguste agassiz in 1832 it is owned by the swatch group . its winged hourglass logo is the oldest registered trademark for a watchmaker . citation needed longines is known for its aviators range of watches . a company director was a friend of charles lindbergh ; after his transatlantic flight lindbergh designed a pilot watch to help with air navigation . built to his specifications it is still produced today . longines provided timers used at the first modern olympics in 1896 . in 1899 a longines watch went to the north pole with arctic explorer luigi amedeo of savoy . it was the first to use automatic timekeeping for the federal gymnastics at basel in 1912 . today longines sells sport watches and chronographs . contents 1 history 1.1 agassiz & compagnie 1.2 ancienne maison auguste agassiz ernest francillon successeur 1.3 les longines 1.4 manufacture longines 1.4.1 logo 1.4.2 the philadelphia universal exhibition of 1876 1.4.3 the 1970s 1.4.4 the 1980s 1.4.5 thirty million watches 2 longines in sport 2.1 aeronautics 2.2 american sports 2.3 basketball 2.4 equestrian sports 2.5 gymnastics 2.6 skiing 2.7 tennis 2.8 tour de france 3 worldwide acclaim 4 see also 5 notes 6 references 7 external links history edit vintage longines box . based in saint imier since 1832 the compagnie des montres longines francillon s.a. was among the world s leading watch companies . in 2007 longines had its 175th anniversary . the brand evolved from a comptoir n 1 to a full fledged manufacturing n 2 operation and then back down to an tablisseur n 3 today since the early 1980s as a swatch group company . the longines story began in 1832 when auguste agassiz brother of naturalist louis agassiz found a job in the hamlet of saint imier joining comptoir horloger raiguel jeune a trader of watch parts in 1833 taking over the business when he and two of his associates set up a company named comptoir raiguel jeue & cie. the venture was run on the then prevailing business model based on piecework by people making or processing watch parts in their own homes for the account of a jobber who delivered the blanks or rough parts and picked up and paid for the finished ones . the company soon found ways to sell its timepieces in distant markets not least in the americas . agassiz & compagnie edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message in 1847 agassiz became the sole owner of the company which he renamed agassiz & compagnie . in 1852 his nephew ernest francillon joined the company . during the 1850s francillon took over the business from his ailing uncle focusing on increasing and improving the production of standard watch designs . ancienne maison auguste agassiz ernest francillon successeur edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message in 1862 francillon renamed the venture ancienne maison auguste agassiz ernest francillon successeur adding his own name to his uncle s. as he took over day to day management francillon looked for ways of improving and streamlining production then parceled out to a number of different sites . the result was a factory where the watches were both manufactured and assembled . les longines edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message in 1866 francillon purchased two adjoining plots of land at a place locally known as les longines meaning the long meadows in the local dialect on the right bank of the river suze in the saint imier valley . here he built a factory to gather the entire production under one roof . by 1867 francillon had convinced some of his pieceworkers to transfer their activities to his newly built factory and hired a young kinsman the engineer jacques david to help him devise the tools and machines which he needed to improve the manufacturing processes . jacques david was able to mechanize much of the process of watchmaking . manufacture longines edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message the first in house longines movement was created in 1867 . the same year ernest francillon returned from the world s fair in paris with a bronze medal for this watch . from the 1870s on longines industrial options proved judicious and the company grew steadily until the first third of the 20th century . the buildings themselves regularly had to be adapted to the needs of a flourishing enterprise which by 1911 employed over 1 100 people and sold its timepieces worldwide . logo edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message on 19 july 1880 the longines brand and logo were registered at the swiss federal office of intellectual property now the world intellectual property organization . the company had by 1867 already adopted its winged hourglass symbol both as a mark of quality and as a defense against counterfeiting . the philadelphia universal exhibition of 1876 edit in 1876 jacques david attended the american centennial exhibition in philadelphia and was shocked by the high level of mechanisation and automation that had been achieved by the american manufacturers . on his return he wrote two reports that triggered a wide ranging debate within the swiss watch industry . 1 david s first report was a detailed description of the current state of american watchmaking a summary of the state of swiss watchmaking and recommendations of changes he thought necessary to counter the threat to swiss watchmaking from america . this confidential report was presented to the intercantonal society in january 1877 . less than two months later david presented a second report vigorously complaining about a lack of action in response to his first report and predicting the end of watchmaking in switzerland should action and change not be made properly and on time . 1 the 1970s edit in 1972 longines was the first world watch maker to introduce a lcd display watch on the consumer market . 2 there were advances in performance of the watches and their appearance continued to change . in 1980s there were a series of ultra thin designs following another world record of longines in 1979 the thinnest citation needed quartz watch called the feuille d or it was just 1.98 mm thick . the 1980s edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message in 1984 longines introduced the conquest vhp very high precision caliber the first thermocompensated quartz movement to use digital count adjustment . it set new accuracy standards with a variance of only 12 seconds a year . thermocompensation uses a highly sensitive thermometer to measure the ambient temperature and slightly adjust the frequency of the quartz oscillator to compensate for adverse effects on timekeeping caused by temperature fluctuation . thirty million watches edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message longines hydroconquest diving watch on 19 february 2001 longines produced the 30 millionth watch at its factory . in 2002 it celebrated the 170th year of the flying hourglass logo . longines in sport edit longines gradually built a special relationship with the world of sport . present in athens in 1896 the company has been closely associated with the worldwide development of sport timing olympic games fourteen times beginning with oslo in 1952 . its partnership drove the company to devise a variety of inventions and developments enabling it to determine and display winning times . aeronautics edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message longines lindbergh hour angle men s pilot watch official supplier since 1919 to the international aeronautics federation fai longines has provided the watches required to set and then certify numerous world flight records not least charles lindbergh s 1927 first nonstop solo crossing of the north atlantic . instruments designed and built by longines have thus helped world explorers and trailblazers of the skies . thus in 1927 longines timed lindbergh s transatlantic flight which lasted 33 hours and 30 minutes . amelia earhart was another famous wearer of its watches . this period also marked the appearance of the first in house self winding watches and the company won several awards among them four diamonds international academy awards and the prix d honneur of lausanne . in the mid 1930s longines patented the flyback chronograph . american sports edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message before the advent of digital clocks the longines name was conspicuously displayed above large analog clocks topping many scoreboards at various sports stadiums and arenas . three notable examples in baseball parks were the scoreboard clocks at yankee stadium before the stadium was remodeled during the early 1970s at shea stadium removed at the end of the 1979 season and replaced with a digital clock and at crosley field in cincinnati ohio . so nostalgic were cincinnati fans for the latter a replica was installed at great american ballpark when it replaced crosley s cookie cutter successor riverfront stadium . the longines logo received much free publicity when pittsburgh pirates second baseman bill mazeroski s 1960 world series winning home run was hit directly above a longines sign at forbes field . similarly a longines sign was prominently visible at san francisco s candlestick park when san francisco 49ers receiver dwight clark made a famous catch of a touchdown pass from quarterback joe montana in the 1981 national football conference championship game . while many of these original longines clocks have been removed a handful remain including one in full working order above the basketball court at the university of kansas s allen fieldhouse . basketball edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message longines was an official sponsor of los