Tissot, a brief History
Tissot watches are the great entry to Swiss expert build quality for a more reasonable price in comparison to the alternative. Owned by Swatch group PLC they combine affordability with great build quality.
Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charle-Felicien Tissot and his son, Charle-Emile. Living a Swiss town called Le Loce it would seem they were destined to enter into the watchmaking world, the town of Le Loce itself had been described as a ‘watchmaking machine’ due to the fact that over 50% of the town population worked in a trade that related to making watches. Seeing the potential and hoping to keep the watchmaking techniques alive Charles-Emile promoted the creation of watchmaking schools and starting at a local level he became recognised by the Swiss state and was appointed a National Inspector.
In the late 1950’s Tissot begins to make more of a name for itself and their precision pocket watches became popular abroad. Charles-Emile travels far and wide to promote Tissot timepieces and his journeys become somewhat iconic. Tissot became one of the first watch manufacturers to create a wristwatch and the popularity is clear by the famous stars that owned these great new timepieces.
By 1907 the small family business had become completely self sufficient and it’s workshops had become factories capable of creating and maintain all components required internally and relying only on its own resources.
During the electricity boom of the 1920’s it became apparent that electricity had a major negative effect on watches through magnetisation. Tissot had to respond and became the first watch brand to address the issue with a new watch known as the Tissot antimagnetique.
In the years to follow Tissot teams up with Omega to create the worlds first Swiss watch making association, known today as the SIHH. The new association helps to boost Tissot’s network and distribution grows, along with a new selling structure and cominication techniques Tissot grows further and goes from strength to strength.
In the 1960’s Tissot expand it’s range to incorporate colourful designs to appeal toward a younger audience and behind the new look design was Tissot great build quality, these same watches also saw some of Tissot’s greatest technological breakthroughs. As result of all these factors Tissot exceeds expectations.
Up to this point more than half of all watches sold in the world are Swiss. Then, the electric watch arrived and mechanical watches seem doomed. as many Swiss watch houses are forced to close for good. In 1983 Swatch group is born and they become the largest producer of finished watches. Tissot becomes a part of the Swatch powerhouse and grow even more. Tissot have fully embraced the electric watch era creating some amazing pieces that incorporate compass’s, alarms, thermometers, altimeters etc. They are a true leader in the industry.
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