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Tissot

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For other uses, see Tissot (disambiguation).
Tissot SA
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryWatchmaking
Founded1853; 171 years ago (1853)
FoundersCharles-Félicien Tissot
Charles-Emile Tissot
Headquarters
Switzerland
Area served
150 countries
Key people
Sylvain Dolla (CEO)
Georges Nicolas Hayek Jr. (Chairman of the Board)
ProductsWatches, timing devices and systems
Revenue€1.0 billion (2017)
Number of employees
250
ParentThe Swatch Group
Websitewww.tissotwatches.com

Tissot SA (French pronunciation: [ti'so]) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker.[1][2] The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853.[3] After several mergers and name changes, the group which Tissot SA belonged to was renamed the Swatch Group in 1998.[4]: 20–22 

Tissot is not associated with Mathey-Tissot, another Swiss watchmaking firm.

History

Independent company

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.

Omega, SSIH, ASUAG, SMH

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 

Swatch subsidiary

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.

Motto and slogan

The company motto/slogan of Tissot is "Innovators by Tradition".[7][8]

Watch manufacturing

Notable inventions

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

Environmental rating

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

Marketing

Tissot has partnered with a wide range of celebrities from basketball players, actors, cricket players, to MotoGP racers to be their brand ambassadors. Tissot brand ambassadors have included: Tony Parker, Liu Yi Fei, Virat Kohli, Deepika Padukone, Huang Xiaoming, Jorge Lorenzo, Thomas Lüthi, Neha Kakkar, Marc Márquez and Rana Daggubati.[16]

Clientele

Tissot watches have been worn by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Sarah Bernhardt, singer Carmen Miranda, Grace Kelly, Elvis Presley and Nelson Mandela.[5]

James Stewart wore a Tissot watch in Rear Window. T-Touch watches have been worn by Angelina Jolie in the movies Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Sponsorships

Tissot has been the official timekeeper responsible for timing in several sports including MotoGP, ice hockey, cycling, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) the Fencing World Championships, the Women's National Basketball Association,[17] for many years. In basketball it has sponsored the Swiss national team,[18] the Chinese Basketball Association, the NBA and other related events, teams, and organizations.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Company Overview of Tissot SA". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  2. ^ "Tissot - Swatch Group". www.swatchgroup.com. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  3. ^ a b c "Tissot: The Brand". Tissot. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Estelle Fallet (2002). The Story of a Watch Company (PDF). Tissot. ISBN 2-940333-00-9.
  5. ^ a b c "Tissot Official Website: History". Tissot. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  6. ^ "Middle Range watches – (Tissot, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Calvin Klein)". The Swatch Group. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "Official Tissot Website - Our Heritage". www.tissotwatches.com. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  8. ^ "Tissot — The "Innovator By Tradition"". Swiss Watch Brand. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  9. ^ "The New Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar". Anytime Watches. 14 November 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d "Environmental rating and industry report 2018" (PDF). World Wide Fund for Nature. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  11. ^ a b c "Swiss luxury watches fail to meet environmental standards". SWI, a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  12. ^ Vidal, John (2015-08-15). "How developing countries are paying a high price for the global mineral boom". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  13. ^ "China needs to get to grips with its gold mining pollution crisis". www.chinadialogue.net. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  14. ^ Einhorn, Dom (2015-02-09). "Mining in Russia: An economic boost or an environmental threat?". Born2Invest. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  15. ^ "South Africa has failed to protect locals from gold mine pollution: Harvard report". MINING.com. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  16. ^ "Official Tissot Website - Meet our ambassadors". www.tissotwatches.com. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  17. ^ "NBA, watchmaker Tissot announce multiyear partnership". ESPN. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  18. ^ FIBA EuroBasket 2017, FIBA.com, Retrieved 31 August 2017.
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