Tissot

From its earliest days in the 19th century, Tissot has built an international reputation for excellent watchmaking. Its timepieces have broken records, displaying the kind of advances that show the brand takes its motto seriously. With a history of timekeeping for sporting events, Tissot is a regular feature at major international competitions, and is endorsed by dozens of sports men and women.

What really makes the company stand out among other leading firms is its competitive pricing. Tissot does not compromise on quality, offering the full benefit of its long history of high-end horological expertise, yet it achieves this while keeping the costs to a level that remains accessible to a much larger customer base than other brands. In many ways, Tissot is the perfect entry in to luxury Swiss watches.

The company was founded in Le Locle, in the heart of the Jura mountains, by father and son Charles-Félicien and Charles-Émile Tissot. From the beginning, the firm sought a wide market for its fine products. Developing new techniques and scales of production, Tissot was able to sell widely in the US as well as offer its timekeepers to the imperial court of Russia.

The Tissot name was built on stunning new inventions, such as the first dual time zone complication, the impressively curved "Banana" watch, and the first seriously anti-magnetic watch, built in 1930, long before the fashion for anti-magnetism became widespread. Tissot was also the first company to properly mass-produce pocket watches, keeping quality high thanks to its team of top horological technicians assembled in Le Locle.

Today, the Swatch Group is known as one of the leading umbrella companies of fine Swiss watch brands, but arguably its first incarnation was formed in 1930. That year, Tissot merged with Omega in a collaboration of equals called SSIH. The two leading firms stayed together until the quartz crisis of the 1980s, when Nicolas Hayek had the visionary idea to unite SSIH with top movement makers (ASUAG), merging to create yet another acronym, SMH, which would later be renamed the Swatch Group.

While Swatch continued to add other great brands to its roster over the years, Tissot and Omega remain pre-eminent as de facto founding members in the confederation that saved Swiss watchmaking.

"Innovation by tradition" is a motto that Tissot has lived by. In 1953, the Tissot Navigator became the first watch with 24 timezones. In 1974, the pioneering Astrolon astonished the world by becoming the first entirely plastic mechanical watch, the result of decades of research. This was well ahead of its time – the more famous plastic Swatch didn't appear for another 14 years.

In 1985, Tissot again registered a materials first, with its Rock Watch made from Alpine granite; this was later followed by the Pearl Watch and the Wood Watch. The following year, its Two Timer was the first watch to show both analogue and digital displays. In 1999, Tissot unveiled a yet more remarkable creation: the T-Touch. Housing six advanced functions, the T-Touch features a touch-sensitive sapphire crystal that allows the wearer to control each one with their fingertip.

Tissot began acting as an official timekeeper at sporting events at least as early as 1938, at a Swiss skiing competition. In 1957, Tissot participated in the Davis Cup, and in the 1970s it began sponsoring racing teams. In the 1990s, it stepped up its sports connections yet again, moving into the worlds of cycling, fencing and ice hockey, and to motorcycling, basketball and ruby in the 21st century. Since 1998 it has been official timekeeper of the Asian Games, as well as the Pan American Games in 2007. It has also sponsored top Formula One teams including Renault, Sauber and Lotus.

Tissot does not market itself quite as exclusively as the most high-end luxury watch brands. But it has nevertheless attracted an impressive list of superstars, world leaders and sportspeople known to have worn its watches. Kate Middleton was spotted with an elegant two-tone Tissot, and the brand has also been found on the wrists of no lesser 20th century giants than Elvis Presley, Grace Kelly and Nelson Mandela.

The company has even dazzled on the silver screen, worn by James Stewart in the Hitchcock classic Rear Window and by Angelina Jolie in blockbusters Tomb Raider and Mr and Mrs Smith.