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Luxury watchmakers have a long tradition of serving as official timekeepers and sponsors at prestigious sporting events. But while most brands focus on motorsport, track and field, sailing, or soccer, Longines also has its sights set on equestrian sports. With the Longines Equestrian collection, the brand even has a dedicated line of women's watches devoted to its commitment to the sport.
A Sport Steeped in Tradition – and the World's Oldest Registered Watch Brand
It is nothing unusual for luxury watchmakers to get involved in sports sponsorship or to act as timekeepers at prestigious international competitions – after all, most sports depend on the most precise timing possible. Any brand that can deliver that with its watches quickly establishes itself as a quality manufacturer in front of an international audience.
Motorsport is particularly popular in this respect, since it promises everyone involved an appealing transfer of image: from fast, powerful engines to rugged, reliable chronographs – and vice versa.
Yet while many watch brands founded in the early 20th century or later launched motorsport-themed watches very early on for precisely this reason, Longines would have had to wait several decades for that opportunity. When the company was founded in 1832, steam engines and steam locomotives already existed, but the opening of the first public railway, England's Stockton and Darlington Railway, had taken place only seven years earlier. Automobiles, let alone motorsport, were still a long way off.
By the time Carl Benz finally caused a sensation in 1886 with his three-wheeled "Patent Motorwagen," the first vehicle of its kind to be built in a small series, the Saint-Imier company with the winged hourglass logo could already look back on more than half a century of successful growth. Given this timeline, it is hardly surprising that the venerable watch brand turned early on to a sport with an equally long tradition: equestrian sport.
Even though soccer, motorsport, and other sports may be far more popular today by comparison, at least some horse races remain top-tier social events to this day. At several of these high-profile events, Longines, the world's oldest registered watch brand, is present year after year with its name and its products.
Wide-Ranging Involvement in the "Equestrian World" for More Than 100 Years
For more than 100 years, the watch brand from Saint-Imier has maintained close ties to equestrian sports – and in many different ways. The range of events Longines supports extends from renowned flat races to show jumping competitions and endurance riding. Incidentally, this commitment has its origins in a technical innovation from 1878. That year, new mechanical production methods enabled the company to manufacture a simple chronograph movement, designated caliber 20H, which watchmaker Alfred Lugrin filed for a patent. It was the brand's first instrument suited to measuring short time intervals, and many more were to follow over the decades.
In 1881, what are, to the best of current knowledge, the earliest print advertisements appeared promoting the hourglass-logo watches with reference to horse racing and the "Equestrian World," even though there was not yet a collection explicitly named "Equestrian." Lugrin's patented single-pusher chronograph quickly became a star in the world of horses and riders, especially in the United States. Spectators in the stands liked to use it to take times on which they could base their betting decisions. Above all, though, it was used by the professionals around the racetrack: jockeys, talent scouts for racing stables, race organizers, operators of riding halls and stud farms – and of course the judges. By 1886, most New York judges are said to have relied on the chronographs from Saint-Imier. At the same time, the company continued to refine its technology and manufacturing processes.
The use of suitable machine tools made it possible in 1888 to launch another chronograph, based on a caliber developed in 1878 but offering significantly improved accuracy. Finally, in 1912, the moment arrived when the successful watch company acted for the first time as official partner of an international show jumping competition.
The Equestrian Collection: From Delicate Women's Wristwatches to Pocket Watches
With the Longines Equestrian collection, the watchmakers from Saint-Imier have created a fitting monument to their decades-long commitment to equestrian sport – or rather, a whole series of monuments. It is primarily a women's watch collection, distinguished by a decidedly feminine elegance and, at the same time, an impressive variety of shapes. Many design details, from the shape of the case and the way it connects to the strap to the strap material itself, evoke bridles, saddles, horseshoes, and other riding equipment.
On some Equestrian models, these references are obvious at first glance, while on other Equestrian models they reveal themselves only to the connoisseur.
For example, the elongated rectangular case with rounded corners on the models launched in 2016 is inspired by a buckle on the show bridle used for the Franches-Montagnes, Switzerland's only native horse breed. Their 24.7 by 36 millimeter stainless steel cases house reliable ETA quartz movements.
If you like to show a touch of luxury, there is a particularly suitable version with a mother-of-pearl dial and diamond indexes. A somewhat more understated but no less refined variant features a silver-toned flinqué dial with blue Roman numerals. In addition, there are finely crafted women's wristwatches with round cases or horseshoe-shaped details – and even a selection of pocket watches.
A Tribute to the Origins of the Brand's Success in the World of Horses
The pocket watches in the Longines Equestrian collection in particular are conceived as a tribute to the brand's own success in the "Equestrian World." Among them are valuable limited editions with cases in solid 18-karat gold. The casebacks or – where present – the covers are often engraved with horses or riders. A special highlight was the Longines Equestrian Pocket Watch Jockey 1878, presented at Baselworld 2016, an equally elegant and high-performing Lépine pocket watch. On watches of this design, named after the Frenchman Jean Antoine Lépine (1720-1814), the crown, winding stem, and seconds display are aligned with the winding stem. The pillars and upper plate are dispensed with.
Bridges and cocks hold the wheels in place, and the fusee and chain are replaced by a barrel. As a result, Lépine calibers can be made thinner, which is one reason for their great popularity as dress pocket watches. The Longines Equestrian Pocket Watch Jockey 1878, of which only 20 pieces were made, is a replica of the aforementioned first chronograph from 1878, which can ultimately be regarded as the ancestor of all Equestrian models. A jockey in racing silks is engraved on the red gold caseback, and the white lacquered dial recalls the enamel dials of many watches from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Anyone who managed to secure one of the few pieces will turn heads at any renowned racecourse in the world, whether at the Jumping Nations Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the Masters of Hong Kong, or any other major event in the Equestrian World.
For everyone else, there is still the extensive selection of other models in the Longines Equestrian collection, which includes elegant and romantic pieces as well as decidedly sporty ones.