How does Longines celebrate 180 years in business?
Invite 180 celebrity guests, local politicians, journalists, and representatives of the Swatch Group to Saint-Imier, Switzerland, the village where it was founded.
With speakers like Nick Hayek, president of the executive group management board of the Swatch Group, and Walter von Känel, director of Longines, the gathering paid homage to Auguste Agassiz, who in 1832 became an associate of a watch trading office installed in Saint-Imier, and laid the foundation for what would later become Longines.
The day’s highlights also included the official reopening of the Longines Museum, a newly refurbished space offering a structured presentation of the last 180 years.
“It has always been Longines’ and the Swatch Group’s strategy to invest in Saint-Imier in order to preserve the Swiss identity and the one of this valley,” Hayek said.
A book by Pierre-Yves Donzé, Longines”“From a Family Business to a Global Brand, was commissioned to mark the milestone. The book retraces the company’s origins to the present day, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the strategic and political decisions that have shaped the company.
