Nationality: Swiss
Longines, is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predecessors since 1983. Its winged hourglass logo, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged active trademark registered with WIPO.
In 1983, Longines' owner ASUAG merged with SSIH (which owned Omega SA) to form the Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie (SMH). SMH became The Swatch Group in 1988, and Longines continued without R&D and production activities of its own. In the 1990's, Swatch differentiated and repositioned its various brands in order to better compete in all market segments, with Omega becoming the high-end brand intended to compete with Rolex and Cartier, while Longines was positioned in a less-expensive segment, its watches redesigned as objects of elegance and classicism, emphasizing the historical tradition of manufacture, as opposed to the craft of watchmaking. In 2019, Longines licensed its name and branding to Marcolin for a collection of men's and women's optical frames and sunglasses.
