The Longines Olympic

The Passion of Timekeeping 

Longines presents The Longines Olympic Collection as a tribute to over a century of partnership with the modern Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games stand as one of the most universally celebrated events, extending over three centuries now.

With the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games, Longines introduced The Longines Olympic Collection – two models of a classic, elegant chronograph, presented with a unique publication dedicated to the development of sports timekeeping by Longines.

The Longines Olympic Collection symbolizes the brand’s longstanding relationship with the world of timekeeping and the Olympic Games in particular. Furthermore, it is the embodiment of Longines' essential objective – to design and produce timepieces which incorporate genuine value, not least extensive horological experience expressed through rational esthetic options that stress overall, elegance inside and out.

This handsome design in stainless steel features either a silver brushed-finished or a black varnished dial with Arabic numerals, enhanced with the Olympic Rings, protected by a scratch-resistant, non-reflecting cambered sapphire crystal. Both models come with a stainless steel bracelet with a triple deployment buckle or a choice of a dark blue or brown genuine leather strap.

The automatic version offers a L651 self-winding chronograph movement with 28,800 vibrations per hour and a 42-hour power reserve. A set of stainless steel hands shows the hours and minutes, while at 3 o’clock a subdial marks the seconds and at 6 o’clock an aperture reveals the date. Started, stopped and returned to zero by a pair of pushpieces, a central seconds hand and a 30-minute totalizer at 9 o’clock display chronograph times.

Offering particularly advantageous access to The Longines Olympic Collection, the quartz version is equipped with an L541 movement which features a central minutes and seconds hands, a 12-hour totalizer at 10 o’clock and a 1/10th second totalizer at 2 o’clock for chronograph timing.

As a tribute to over 125 years of timekeeping, The Longines Olympic Collection comes in a specially designed presentation case together with a comprehensive publication summarizing the extraordinary history of Longines and sports timekeeping.

Over 125 Years of Longines Timekeeping

Longines’ total commitment to sports timekeeping began in 1878 with its famous 19CH stopwatch with a 30-minute totalizer. This was the first timekeeping instrument with which times could be measured to 1/5 of a second. Similar timepieces were used at the first Olympic Games of the modern era in Athens in 1896. In later years, the Olympic Games could count on Longines’ regular participation. Apart from the Olympic Games of 1940 in Helsinki, which had to be cancelled and where Longines was originally appointed official timekeeper, the company offered its timing services to the Olympic Games in Oslo in 1952, Squaw Valley in 1960, Innsbruck in 1964 and again in 1976, Grenoble in 1968, Lake Placid in 1980, Sarajevo in 1984, Calgary in 1988 and Albertville in 1992, as well as the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980, Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. While nowadays Swatch acts as timekeeper and data-handling operator for the Olympic Games, Longines focuses its sports timekeeping on the world’s most elegant disciplines: equestrian sports and gymnastics.

For a watch and timing equipment manufacturer, few challenges are more daunting than the timing and scoring of Olympic events. In response to the ever greater competitiveness and complexity of a growing number of disciplines, Longines has unfailingly developed and introduced novel solutions, steadily adapting and improving its vast array of efficient high-performance timepieces and equipment. Throughout the 20th century, competition sport and Longines have run the same race, each giving the other the very best of itself. “The history of sport in our time coincides with Longines“, as company president Walter von Känel points out. “In the image of over a century’s finest sports performances, this partnership stands as a feat unequalled in the entire history of watchmaking.”

The brand’s achievements over the years include the design and marketing of an electromechanical timing device with which its staff was able to time a 100-meter event as early as 1912. Automatically determining race results, it was only the first in an extended series of technical advances that Longines put into service over the years for the benefit of many of the world’s most prestigious sports competitions. In fact, Longines’ know-how and acquired skills in this area earned it the privilege of being asked to time the toughest competitions of all: automobile races. From the 1933 Brazil Grand Prix to Formula 1 events between 1980 and 1992, one brand alone, Longines, was recognized as the undisputed reference in the field.

The Swatch Group is official timekeeper and on-venue results service provider for the Olympic Games until 2010.

Over the last 125 years, Longines and other Swatch Group companies have performed official timekeeping and other duties at no less than 27 Olympic Games, 180 world championships, 8 Asian Games and countless other top-tier sports competitions. It is indeed a long and impressive list, reflecting the extreme level of professional expertise and experience, the steadfast reliability, trust and esteem which the companies of the Swatch Group have built up over the years as the world’s premier specialized timing organization for such high-profile events.

This distinguished service record has today earned the Swatch Group the status of official partner of the International Olympic Committee – the well-deserved result of over a century of association of its watch brands with the leading sports event of our time.