In 1832, in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, Auguste Agassiz and his two brothers-in-law, Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel, founded the company Raiguel Jeune & Cie., which assembled watch components and sold them to individual watchmakers. The company operated as a comptoir - a sales office. Soon the partners moved away from this model and founded their own assembly production.

The company manufactured and sold pocket chronometers with a spindle escapement. Soon the manufactory's products conquered the international market. Agassiz leveraged family connections in the United States, and the brand became extremely successful on the North American continent.

By 1846, Rigel and Morel left the business, and Agassiz became the sole owner of the manufactory. Before retiring in 1852, Agassiz introduced his nephew Ernest Francillon into the business, who continued to develop the company's progressive spirit.

Francillon, an economist by training, bought land in 1867 for a new manufactory south of Saint-Imier. This area was called Les Longines ("Long Meadows"), which eventually gave the company the name that is world-famous today. In the same year, Longines introduced its first movement – ​​caliber 20A. This 20-ligne caliber featured an escapement and a crown for winding and setting the hands. Caliber 20A took first place at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867.

Since that time, Longines officially adopted the logo - an hourglass with wings, which was depicted on each watch movement along with the name of the manufactory.

In 1876, Longines chief engineer Jacques David, as a representative of the Intercantonal Society of Industrialists, after returning from the World's Fair in Philadelphia, USA, introduced the American method of industrialization. Jacques David, together with Ernest Francillon, mechanized the production of Longines watches. In 1878, the company developed and patented a chronograph mechanism - caliber 20H. And by 1880, it created production facilities to develop and produce all the components of the mechanisms independently.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Longines established itself in the world of equestrian sports in America. By 1886, the brand's chronographs became the watches of New York sports figures associated with horses and racing. During the same period, the brand focused on innovation. 1888 – the first certified chronometer movement, caliber 21.59. 1900 - Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris for the La Renommee pocket watch with this mechanism. 1913 - the first caliber for a wrist single-pusher chronograph 13.33Z with an accuracy of 1/5 of a second.

Francillon registered the Longines logo in 1889 and the brand name in 1893. Today, Longines is the oldest brand registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In the 1920s and 1930s, the manufactory specialized in navigational instruments, becoming an official supplier to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and the US Navy. In 1927, US Navy officer Philip Van Weems and Longines created the Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch based on the Weems Navigation System. This watch synchronized the second hand with the Greenwich time signal. And in 1931, the manufactory, together with the pilot Charles Lindbergh, developed the Lindbergh Hour Angle chronometer, which was based on the Weems model of 1927. Lindbergh's chronometer made it easier for aviators to calculate longitude and latitude to determine precise locations. In 1935, Longines received a patent for this development.

In 1945, Longines introduced an automatic movement, the caliber 22A. In 1954, the brand impressed fans by releasing its first Conquest collection, followed three years later by Flagship. Both collections remain popular today.

In 1969, during the quartz crisis, former Swiss army colonel Walter von Känel joined the company's sales department. Firm and persistent, Mr. von Kanel refocused the brand on the creation of quartz movements. The company launched the first quartz wristwatch caliber, the Ultra-Quartz, and the Longines LCD digital watch. The Longines LCD digital watch received the IR100 award at the Annual Industrial Research Conference and Awards in 1972. Walter von Kanel not only successfully overcame the quartz crisis, but also during his 51 years of leadership expanded product markets and made the company a leader in sales volumes.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Longines turned its attention to the development of ultra-thin mechanical and quartz movements. In 1977, the manufacture introduced a thin mechanical self-winding caliber L990 with a thickness of 2.95 mm. And in 1979, Longines released the ultra-thin quartz watch Feuille d'Or with a thickness of 1.98 mm.

The company has repeatedly acted as a partner and timekeeper of competitions. In 1954, using the Longines Chronocinegines, Longines recorded a world land speed record. Donald Campbell crossed Lake Eyre in Australia in the Bluebird II at 648.565 km/h.

In 1982, the brand became the official timekeeper of Formula 1 for a period of 10 years. And since 1985, Longines has been the official timekeeper of rhythmic and artistic gymnastics competitions of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). In 2007, Longines became the partner and official timekeeper of the French Open Tennis Championships and alpine skiing competitions. Since 2011, Longines has been an official partner of the Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly Racecourse, France. Today, Longines is the timekeeper of prestigious horse races: Royal Ascot, Melbourne Cup, Kentucky Derby, Dubai World Cup. Since 2013, Longines has been the main partner and timekeeper of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the International Federation of Racing Societies (IFHA).

In 1983, Longines was bought by the Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie (SSMH), today known as the Swatch Group. Since 1988, Longines has been headed by Walter von Kanel. The head of the Swatch Group, Nicolas Hayek, together with Walter von Kanel, decided to stop producing their own movements and work exclusively with ETA movements. This move allowed Longines to invest heavily in brand awareness and the end product rather than in creating movements.