Longines Museum

The Longines Museum retraces the fascinating history of the brand known by its winged hourglass logo across the ages. It’s also a witness of the great epic Swiss watch history, and the grand legacy forged in tradition, elegance and performance. 

The history of the Longines company dates back to 1832, when Auguste Agassiz set up a Comptoir d’établissage in Saint-Imier. The watch parts were produced in domestic workshops by skilled craftsmen. Auguste Agassiz then took care of the assembly and the distribution of the finished products. But the firm already had an international reach at the time, selling watches in as far flung places as the United States of America.

In 1867, Ernest Francillon, August Agassiz’s nephew and successor as head of the company, inaugurated the first watchmaking factory, to brought together all the different stages of manufacturing watches under one roof. The Longines factory was up and running and the company adopted the name of the riverside location where it had been built. The name Longines was born and from then on, all watches that left the factory would bear this name, the winged hourglass logo and a serial number.

On the strength of an age-old watchmaking tradition, Longines attaches great importance to celebrating its past. It has succeeded in preserving its rich heritage and displaying its gems through the Longines Museum, which houses collections that cover all the aspects of the brand's history.  Visitors can discover the main watch models, navigational instruments and timing devices, as well as a range of exceptional documents such as the 800 written records from the earliest days of the company. 

Tradition, Elegance and Performance : these are the brand's principal values that are the focus of the various sections of the Museum.