Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (French pronunciation: ?[l???in]), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland.[1][2] Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predecessors since 1983.[3][4] Its winged hourglass logo, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged yet still active trademark registered with WIPO. 1832?1867 Longines was founded in Saint-Imier in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz, a Swiss watchmaker and brother of biologist Louis Agassiz.[3][7] Auguste had two partners, lawyers Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel, and the company\'s original name was Raiguel Jeune & Cie.[8][9] By 1846, Raigeul and Morel had retired from the watch industry, leaving Agassiz as sole company head.[3] Several years later, Agassiz brought in his bright, enterprising nephew, trained economist Ernest Francillon, into the business.[3] Francillon was the mastermind behind several impressive innovations that would distinguish the company from its competitors. One early stroke of genius from Francillon was to solely produce crown-wound pocket watches rather than the prevalent key-wound alternative. Later, when Agassiz started suffering from ill health, he passed leadership to Francillon. 1867?1878 Under Francillon, the company began segueing out of the ?tablissage system and moved towards more modern production methods. Francillon solidified his firm?s progression to mass production in 1867 by establishing his first factory.[3][9] Its location, an area in southern St. Imier known locally as Les Longines (?long meadows?), gave rise to the Longines name. To help further his efforts to improve the production at Longines, Francillon brought on Jacques David, a talented engineer. In addition, Francillon appointed David as Technical Director and put him in charge of the new factory. By 1867, it was also marked the year the Longines factory produced its first in-house watch movement, the 20A. The 20A, built with an anchor escapement (usually employed in pendulum clocks), was wound and set via a pendent crown. The innovative movement won an award at the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. Several years later, the U.S. watchmaking industry was earning fame worldwide for making great strides in industrialized watch manufacturing. Francillon sent Jacques David to the 1876 World?s Fair in Philadelphia to gather new ideas and strategies from the Americans. Upon returning, David wrote a comprehensive 108-page report on what he had learned about American watch production. This report is considered one of the most significant documents in watchmaking history. It detailed the inner workings of American watch factories, including the entire production process from raw materials to finished watches. Additionally, David also shared the highly-effective internal structure and quality control measures implemented in these factories. In his analysis, David concluded the Swiss watchmaking industry needed to change significantly to keep pace with American competitors.