Tissot

Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile Tissot in Le Locle, Switzerland. Charles-Émile traveled to Russia in 1858, selling savonnette pocket watches across the Russian Empire. In 1907, a factory was built on Chemin de Tourelles in Le Locle, where the company's headquarters remain today. In 1929, Tissot merged with Omega under Paul Tissot-Daguette's leadership to form SSIH. The company's first timekeeping engagement was timing ski races in 1938. Tissot pioneered unconventional materials: the plastic Idea 2001 (1971), the Alpine granite RockWatch (1985), and mother of pearl (1987). In 1999, Tissot introduced the T-Touch, a tactile watch with touch-sensitive sapphire crystal controlling compass, barometer, and altimeter. The original PRX collection launched in 1978 with an integrated bracelet design, and its 2021 re-release became one of the most successful watches of the 2020s. SSIH merged with ASUAG in 1983, and the combined entity became the Swatch Group in 1998.