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Longines – We stayed in our League and we became Number 1
When you are in the watch industry for 50 years you have seen it all. Mr Walter Von Känel, CEO of Longines, arrived at Longines in 1969 and has been CEO for three decades. Now he speaks openly about why the brand is one of a kind and how the army taught him the way to approach business.
If you are a person who follows the world of watches, you already know that Longines is one of the iconic brands behind the Swiss industry. It has been based at Saint-Imier, in Switzerland, since 1832, and it played an important role for what watchmaking represents today.
First it was the vision of the founder, Auguste Agassiz, who understood that success is related to selling his products on other continents. Then, in 1850, his nephew, Ernest Francillon, took over the business and thought to make it more efficient by bringing all the different stages that go towards making a watch under one roof. So, he bought more land on the right bank of the River Suze, a site known as Les Longines. His factory was inaugurated in 1867 and since then it saw a continuous development. Already in 1911, Longines employed 1100 workers and the watches were distributed worldwide.
The full story in MISTERWATCH No. 3 printed November edition 2019.
by Constantin Bacheș, Bucharest, Romania
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