Old Longines Watches for Sale

Longines launched in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz, who formed a partnership with a watch workshop in Saint-Imier selling pocket watches with crown-wheel escapements. The company was originally called “Agassiz et Cie"; Longines wasn’t formed until 1866, when Agassiz’s nephew, Ernest Francillon, took over the business and moved it to an old mill on the banks of the river Suze.

In 1889, Francillon registered Longines name; the winged hourglass logo engraved on each movement is the oldest registered for any watchmaker. Longines continued to thrive, enjoying international recognition and numerous awards for technical advances throughout its history. In the early 20th century, Longines became associated with sports timekeeping, and was active in horse racing from 1878.

The company, owned by the Swatch Group, still sponsors and times equestrian sports, gymnastics, aeronautics, baseball, basketball, Formula I racing, downhill skiing, and tennis. Longines has also timed 31 Tours de France. It currently offers both sports and Heritage Collection watches. Vintage Longines chronograph watches from the 1930s to the 1950s are highly prized by collectors; a silver 1931 Lindbergh Hour Angle recently sold at the Geneva Watch Auction for $149, 000.

Quick Facts

• The company was named after “les longines” (French for the “long meadows”), the land south of St. Imier, Switzerland, where the first factory was built in 1866
• In 1889, Longines provided five chronometers to the Italian explorer Luigi Amedeo, in his failed attempt to reach the North Pole
• Longines timed Charles Lindbergh's famous solo transatlantic flight in 1927. Amelia Earhart also wore a Longines while flying