180 YEARS OF

tourists have to bring gis back. And
a nice gi to put in their pocket is a
watch.” (Recent data gives an idea of
the enormous buying power of Chinese
tourists. Chinese tourism ocials
estimate that Chinese took 70
million overseas trips in 2011 and
spent a total of 69 billion dollars, an
increase of 25 percent over 2010.) Von
Känel says that Chinese consumers
around the globe account for a signicant
portion of Longines sales.
Von Känel acknowledges that
Longines’s power surge has relied
greatly on Chinese consumers. How
does he feel about riding the dragon?
“As the grandson of farmers,” he says,
“I don’t like to put all my eggs in one
basket. We have to accept that there
is some risk. But I have a good feeling
about China for the next couple of
years. I don’t think there will be a
slowdown.” Moreover, he says, “e
United States is getting bigger and
One reason for Longines’s
strength in China is its
140-YEAR HISTORY there.
bigger for us and Europe is enjoying
very positive additional sales.”
One reason for Longines’s
strength in China is its long history
there. Chinese consumers know and
respect the Longines brand. Longines
has superb archives dating back to
1867, and the record shows that
watches were shipped to China even
then. In 2009, Longines underlined
the point by sponsoring a contest to
nd the oldest watch in China. (It has
held similar contests in Russia and
Japan.) Over the years, Longines’s
fortunes in China waxed and waned,
depending on the political situation
in the country. Von Känel himself
was instrumental in opening modern
China. His rst trip to Beijing was in
1971, where he dealt with a government
agency called Beijing Watch &
Spectacles. “I got my rst order in
1974,” he remembers. “It was not a big
order. But I was very proud.”
Top: China is by
far Longines’s
most important
market.
Bottom:
A Chinese
advertisement
for Longines
pocket watches
from the 1920s
LONGINES SPECIAL WatchTime | 9