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The Swatch Group is home to many prestigious brands such as Blancpain, Breguet, and Glashütte Original. It owns iconic brands like Omega and Longines. Even its portfolio of “entry level” brands is impressive, which includes Hamilton, Certina, and of course – Tissot. The history of Tissot experienced a paradigm shift when it merged with Omega in 1930. This was one of the foundational steps down a very long road that would inevitably lead to the formation of the powerhouse Swatch Group of today.
The Early Years
Tissot started back in 1853 in Le Locle. A father and son team consisting of Charles-Félicien Tissot and Charles-Émile Tissot began creating watches by assembling parts acquired from other suppliers. Tissot also introduced the first pocket watch with two time zones this year.
Five years later, around 1858, Charles-Émile went off to Russia. The company was selling pocket watches all across the Russian Empire by this time, and its watches even made it to the Tsar’s court. Tissot actually delivered a watch to Czar Nicholas II in 1904.
Russia was Tissot’s biggest market before the revolution of 1917. Approximately a year before the revolution, Tissot introduced its “Banana” watch, which was very popular in Russia at the time. Someone actually returned one of these to the Tissot factory for service, but because it wasn’t legal to return it after the revolution, it apparently still sits in the company’s factory in Le locle. It also inspired the modern Tissot Heritage Prince model.
After the events of 1917 in Russia, Tissot realized it needed to find new markets. This led to an increased focus on wristwatches. During the October Revolution, Charles Tissot sent a letter to his brother explaining that:
“Present demand in the watch market is increasingly concentrated on small pieces, indeed the smaller the better.”
The Independent Years leading Up To The Great Depression
By 1918 Tissot had transformed itself into a legitimate manufacturer. It started to mass produce ébauches for its movements on its own premises. Starting as early as 1925, the seeds were being sown for a merger. A merger that wouldn’t take place until 1930.
Tissot would produce the first anti-magnetic wristwatch in 1930. This would also be the year it merged with Omega. It would produce certain calibers under the Omega brand (and vice-versa), and the two companies would share a common production plan. This arrangement would also lead to some of Tissot’s calibers being produced by Lemania as well.
The Blockbuster Merger That Changed The History Of Tissot Forever
The Wall Street crash of 1929 disrupted economies around the world. One of the consequences of the crash would result in a merger. Two companies, Omega and Tissot, would form an alliance to pool resources and to ride things out. The year was 1930.
Lemania would also become a member of the newly formed group SSIH (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère SA) two years later, in 1932. The famed Omega caliber 321 is based on a Lemania movement, so we can see the importance the celebrated manufacturer of chronograph movements contributed to the group. Tissot chronographs from the 1930s and 1940s can be found with Lemania movements as well.
Interestingly, when SSIH was restructuring, and in the course of a management buyout in 1981, Lemania was actually separated from SSIH group and changed its name to Nouvelle Lemania. It was then purchased by Breguet in 1992, and Breguet, like Omega and Tissot, is now part of Swatch group. Swatch acquired Breguet (and thus Lemania) in 1999.
History Of Tissot During The SSIH Years
Tissot’s anti-magnetic movements would be distributed all over the world by 1933. This allowed it to gain a major share of the market for some time. These anti-magnetic watches were especially popular from the mid 1940s to the mid 1950s.
After Tissot’s pioneering anti-magnetic automatics were introduced, they were heavily imitated by other brands. Tissot continued innovating. It introduced the Navigator in 1953, This was the first mass-produced wristwatch to to feature 24 time zones.
In 1952, a poll was taken, according to Tissot: The Story Of A Watch Company (page 168). The poll revealed that Tissot was the second most well-known wath company in Switzerland (after Omega). Its slogan at the time was “Tissot – Switzerland’s favourite watch”.
Between 1930 and 1960, Tissot produced around 72 different calibers. It also began to branch into sports watches by the 1960s.
The above 1960s advertisement is for the Tissot PR516. An advertising campaign that led to a large amount of sales was created to target those “young at heart”.
The “hand-on-the-wheel + PR516 with a perforated bracelet was born”, after a strip of perforated metal sparked the inspiration for the perforated bracelet according to Tissot: The Story Of A Watch Company (page 184). This perforated bracelet, paired with the image of a race car steering wheel, helped Tissot in creating a more modern brand image.
Tissot’s long-term goal was “to dominate the mid-sector of the watch market” by the late 1970s. Trouble was brewing, however, as quartz watches began dominating the whole watch industry.
Another Crisis, Another Foundational Merger
SSIH became insolvent by the late 1970s, and its creditors took control of it by 1981. The Quartz Crisis was devastating for SSIH, but also for one of its competitiors – ASUAG (“Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG”, French “Société Générale de l’Horlogerie Suisse”).
ASUAG was the world’s largest producer of watch movements and components. It merged with SSIH in 1983, forming the basis for what would become the modern Swatch Group. All watch movement manufacturers were consolidated into ETA.
Swatch is the owner of Swatch today, which gives it access to iconic movements such as the ETA 2892 and Valjoux 7750. This also gives Tissot access to these movements, which are being reinvigorated into updated versions like the Powermatic 80.
Tissot Today
The modern Tissot doesn’t manufacturer its own movements. It doesn’t even really enjoy “in-house” movements powering its watches – unlike its longtime stablemate Omega. Tissot remains a solid entry-level brand, however, and has unrivaled history and heritage as an innovator. The Powermatic 80 movements that it shares with its Swatch stablemates like Certina and Mido are also arguably some of the best money can buy (at least in the price bracket Tissot currently resides in).