Tissot has a rich and legendary story, starting in the Swiss Jura Mountains, the centre of Swiss watchmaking: in 1853, Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile united forces to make up Tissot in the tiny town of Le Locle, where the brand remains based to this day. These days Tissot is a company of the Swatch Group, the world’s biggest Swiss watch producer and distributor.
From 1853, the beauty and accuracy of Tissot watches won a variety of awards. Tissot has always been looking for creativity, whether in the technical area or its designs, to birth models which play a central role in horological history, remaining true to its philosophy.
During the time when Tissot was made, there were no such things as logos in Switzerland. The first Swiss law helping protect commercial companies was brought in back in 1880. That is exactly when the first Tissot logo was registered. It then underwent numerous changes, following the evolution of the brand and accompanying its worldwide growth.
Today’s logo, together with the slogan was registered in 1999. The first marketing films produced by Tissot were shown in cinemas in the 1940s. The range of Tissot markets and audiences meant that, even at that time, films were created in several versions, first with voice-overs in French, English and German, but also soon in a range of languages such as Spanish to Chinese.
Certainly, it can be said that there is a big equality separating the evolution of fashion and the families that Tissot has been making for women since 1853. It is not just a case of ongoing trends being shown recognition in the design of Tissot ladies watches through time, but the way in which watches can be worn is representative of every spell and of the evolution of the world.
This only displays how Tissot once more shapes the history of fine horology and makes sure that quality remains cool. In the 19th century, Tissot crafted pocket watches for men and pendant-watches for women, a curious separation at the time. Whilst pendant watches were often highly decorated, left on a chain or ribbon around the neck. Tissot counted fashionable women among its best customers, like the legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
Starting in the beginning of the 20th Century, Tissot also made wristwatches, well prior to the inter war years and the purple patch of this new style of watch. The Tissot history stories show evidence that, due to its wide variety of high quality suppliers, Tissot was able to give a wide range of wristwatches both in their materials and styles.
In the 1940s and 1950s, by advertising and showing off a wide variety of models for plenty of styles, ages and occasions, Tissot spoke especially to the ‘woman of today’. Tissot slowly gained international recognition and then in 1947, world famous opera singer Carmen Miranda went for a luxurious Tissot jewel watch set with a stunning aquamarine and diamonds look.
By the 1960s and 1970s, Tissot continued to give little, precious watches, some in gold and diamond or boasting faceted crystal, in addition to water-resistant and automatic sports models. At the turn of the 1970s, specific styles for the young were added to the Tissot catalogue. The look of Tissot collections bore witness to the inspiration of fashion, with colorful and stunning looks. In addition, always on the search for the newest trends, Tissot worked together with international designers – like Pekka Piekäinen, who made the Tissot Design watch.
