Tissot

Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot in the Swiss city of Le Locle, in the Neuchâtel area of the Jura Mountains.[3] Charles-Emile Tissot left for Russia in 1858 and succeeded in selling their savonnette pocket watches across the Russian Empire.[5]

In 2021, the company is marketing Le Locle Powermatic 80, which has a watch face designed to mimic the clock tower in its founding city of Le Locle.

Tissot merged with watch company Omega SA in 1930, forming SSIH (Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère),[4]^:208 and Tissot-Omega watches from this era are sought after by collectors.

Tissot's first engagement as an official timekeeper was in 1938 where they timed a series of ski races in Villars-sur-Ollon, near the company's home town in the Jura mountains. Tissot was used for timing downhill skiing in Switzerland in 1938, and for the Davis Cup in 1957.

SSIH-ASUAG was formed in 1983 (Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft, ASUAG, was a holding company supplying the watch industry),[4]^:208–209 then SMH (Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d’horlogerie; 1983–1985).[4]^:20–22

SMH took the name of the Swatch Group in 1998.[4]^:20–22 Tissot SA remained in Le Locle, Switzerland, and marketed in 160 countries. Tissot watches are classified by the Swatch Group as "mid-range market" products.[6]

Tissot is an official timekeeper for the world championships in cycling, motorcycling, fencing and ice hockey, etc. Tissot was a sponsor for the Formula One car-racing teams Lotus, Renault, and Sauber. In the past handheld stopwatches were sufficient to provide official timings; in more recent times manufacturers and sporting bodies together develop more accurate systems for specific events. In competitive cycling, for instance, sensors are placed on the bikes and track, and linked by computers to provide track timings and performance data.

Tissot introduced the first mass-produced pocket watch as well as the first pocket watch with two time zones in 1853 and the first anti-magnetic watch, in 1929–30.[5] The Tissot company was also the first to make watches out of plastic (Idea 2001 in 1971), stone (the Alpine granite RockWatch in 1985), mother of pearl (the Pearl watch in 1987), and wood (the Wood watch in 1988).[3]

Tissot introduced its first tactile watch, with "T-Touch," technology in 1999; watches containing this technology have touch-sensitive sapphire crystals to control various functions including compass, barometer, altimeter and thermometer. The 2014 T-Touch Expert Solar and T-Touch Lady Solar had 25 functions.[9]

Tissot watch from 1958, manual winding, 33 millimeters, in-house movement with Manual winding .

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  Tissot Couturier
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  Tissot 1958
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  Tissot Twotimer, 1990
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  Tissot PRC 200 (T17.1.586.52)
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  Tissot pocket watch, open krishna

Top 5 gold producing nations

In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released an official report giving environmental ratings for 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland.[10][11] Tissot and seven other manufacturers, including Omega, Rolex and Longines, were given the lowest environmental rating as "Latecomers/Non-transparent", suggesting that the manufacturer has taken very few actions to address the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment and the climate.[10][11]

There are concerns over the lack of transparency in manufacturing activities and the sourcing of precious raw materials such as gold, which is a major cause of environmental issues such as pollution, soil degradation and deforestation.[10][11] The situation is especially serious in the developing countries which are top producers of gold, including China, Russia and South Africa.[12][13][14][15] It is estimated that the watch and jewelry sector uses over 50% of world's annual gold production (over 2,000 tons), but in most cases the watch companies are unable or unwilling to demonstrate where their raw materials come from, and if the material suppliers use eco-friendly technologies.[10]

Tissot Le Locle