Reusser

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the Nov./Dec. 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for Reusser watches. The watch shown is a "Tradition" model, with automatic 25 jewel movement, date, and sweep second hand:

Reusser was founded in the 1920s. I can find no information about their history. The came out in the 1950s to take advantage of post-war consumer demand.

Titus

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the Nov./Dec. 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for the Titus  "Royal Time" Watch. The ad shows an automatic with 25 jewels (you really need only 17!), date, and sweep second hand.

Solvil (also known as Solvil & Titus) is a Swiss brand founded in 1887 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Switzerland by Paul Ditisheim. Some vintage Titus watches are shown below:

Here are some images of additional Titus watches and advertisements:

Here are some images of Titus watches through the decades:

Longines

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the Nov./Dec. 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for a Longines  "Flagship" model. The Flagship was Longines' top-of-the-line manual-wind movement with seconds bit at 6:00 (the model also came with sweep seconds):

The Flagship model remains popular with collectors today who enjoy a no-frills watch that is extremely accurate. The Flagship is extremely accurate (chronometer rated) but does state "chronometer" on the dial or movement because doing so would increase tariffs imposed by U.S. customs.

Longines, was founded by Auguste Agassiz in Saint-Imier, Switzerland in 1832. They are probably most famous for their affiliation with aviation with early pioneers of the sky, notably Charles Lindbergh, who wore a Longines watch on his famous flight across the Atlantic in 1927.O

Longines is also famous for chronographs which timed (and still time) many prestigious sporting events, including those in the Olympics.

In the 1950s, Longines focused on precision watches. Collectors argue whether the Flagship is better than the Admiral, or the Conquest, but they are all superior timekeepers.

Today, Longines is part of Swatch Group, and they continue to rely on their time-tested models, including the Flagship. 

Here are previous articles I've written on Longines:

By Bruce Shawkey

Longines was founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832. Several years later, Agassiz brought in his bright, enterprising nephew, trained economist Ernest Francillon, into the business. Its winged hourglass logo, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged active trademark.   Francillon was the mastermind behind several impressive innovations that would distinguish the company from its competitors. One early stroke of genius from Francillon was to solely produce crown-wound pocket watches rather than the prevalent key-wound alternative. Later, when Agassiz started suffering from ill health, he passed leadership to Francillon.

Under Francillon, the company began moving ed towards more modern production methods. Francillon solidified his firm's progression to mass production in 1867 by establishing his first factory. Its location, an area in southern St. Imier known locally as Les Longines ("long meadows"), gave rise to the Longines name.  The U.S. watchmaking industry was making strides in industrialized watch manufacturing, so Francillon sent Jacques David to the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia to gather new ideas and strategies from American watchmakers. Upon returning, David wrote a 108-page report detailing what he learned during his trip; the report is considered one of the most significant documents in watchmaking history, detailing the inner workings of American watch factories, including the entire production process, from raw materials to finished watches, and the highly-effective internal structure and quality control measures implemented in American factories. In his analysis, David concluded the Swiss watchmaking industry needed to change significantly to keep pace with its American competitors.

In 1878, Longines developed its first chronograph movement, a "mono-pusher" chronograph, in which all three chronograph functions (start, stop, and reset) were controlled via the crown. This was when Longines began building its reputation in equestrian sports, such as horse racing and jumping. By 1880, Longines was known for the quality and precision of its timepieces. To Francillon's dismay, the brand became a target for counterfeiters. Longines counterfeits were not only directly stealing business and revenue from Francillon, but also potentially damaging his company's reputation. Francillon trademarked the Longines name in 1880 and its winged hourglass logo in 1889. By 1886, Longines had established itself as a primary supplier of timing equipment for most New York sporting officials.

In 1927, P.V.H. Weems collaborated with Longines to produce the first wrist watch, the Weems Navigation watch. The watch was 47 mm in diameter. In 1931, Longines collaborated with Charles Lindbergh to introduce the Hour Angle aviation watch. In 1937, P.V.H. Weems again collaborated with Longines to produce a second, smaller (33mm) Weems avigation watch. 

1971 to the present

In 1983, Longines' owner ASUAG merged with SSIH (which owned Omega SA) to form the Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie (SMH). SMH became The Swatch Group in 1988. 

Notable Longines brand ambassadors and timepieces owners

Humphrey Bogart, Harry Connick Jr., Audrey Hepburn, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Kate Winslet, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Albert Einstein owned two timepieces from Longines, one 1943 silver pocket watch and one 1929 gold wristwatch. His Longines' wristwatch, which was presented to him by Rabbi Edgar Magnin in 1931, was auctioned by Antiquorum for $596,000 in New York in October 2008, making it the most expensive Longines' timepiece ever sold at auction. His Longines pocket watch is now kept in the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland.

Other owners:  United States Navy Captain Philip Van Horn Weems, United States Army Air Corps Reserve Charles Lindbergh, United States Navy Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Wiley Post.

Pictures and advertisement of Longines watches over the decades:

Here's a neat Longines watch from my collection: Round, stainless steel, triple stack bezel. 17-jewel, manual wind. Probably 1950s.

Longines

Smaller size around 30mm diameter. Case is signed Longines, Dial looks refinished, and I bet hands have been replaced. But overall, I like the simplicity of it. And with a stainless case, I don't have to worry about brassing on the case or wear through on the lugs ... flea bites as one of my associates calls them. I've nothing against the company's modern stuff; in fact I own a current-day chronograph (the so-called "Big Eye") with the modified Valjoux 7750).

Longines "Big Eye"

More ads:

More pictures:

Atlantic

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the Nov./Dec. 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for an Atlatic "Travelmatic" Watch. It was an automatic watch with 25 jewels (you need only 17!) a sweep second hand, and date:

Ed. Kummer was established in Bettlach, Switzerland in 1888 by Eduard Kummer, born 26 March 1845.

Here's an ad for an Atlantic "Travelmatic" that appeared in the March/April 1958 issue of Swiss Horological Journal. Atlantic was a brand of Ed. Kummer SA of Bettlach Switzerland, in the Canton of Solothurn. The watch pictured is an automatic wind with date.

New Models Announced in April/May 1956 issue of SHJ

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this article in the April/May 1956 issue of Swiss Horological Journal announcing several new models. Here are some of the models included in the article:

 Here 

Swiza

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the April/May 1956 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for Swiza watches. The watch pictured is an alarm watch called the Mediator. Seems every watch manufacturer was jumping on the alarm watch bandwagon during the 1950s:

I can find nothing on the history of the Swiza watch company. Their name is presumably a shortened take on "Switzerland."

Ernest Borel

 By Bruce Shawkey

Found this ad in the Sept./Oct. 1955 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for the Ernest Borel  "Datoptic" watch:

Ernest Borel is probably most famous for their "Cocktail" watch, with its kaleidoscope dial, in many variations. But they made many other interesting watches over the year:

The "Flash" model, with luminous dial

Here's an interesting model from 1959:

Here is an image of an Ernest Borel watch from the mid-1950s

The company was founded in 1856 by Jules Borel. When Ernest took over, the name was changed to Ernest Borel. In 1956, Europa Star magazine ran and a story about the company's 100th anniversary along with a picture of three generations of Borel's presidents. Ernest is seen in the middle:

Found this ad in the Sept./Oct. 1955 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for the Ernest Borel  "Datoptic" watch:

Ernest Borel is probably most famous for their "Cocktail" watch, with its kaleidoscope dial, in many variations. But they made many other interesting watches over the year:

The "Flash" model, with luminous dial

Here's an interesting model from 1959:

Here is an image of an Ernest Borel watch from the mid-1950s

The company was founded in 1856 by Jules Borel. When Ernest took over, the name was changed to Ernest Borel. In 1956, Europa Star magazine ran and a story about the company's 100th anniversary along with a picture of three generations of Borel's presidents. Ernest is seen in the middle:

Here is an article from the Sept./Oct.1959 issue of Europa Star magazine on the 100th anniversary of Ernest Borel:

Ernest Borel is probably the king of novelty watches,  Here's some more information on their novelty watches over the years. Most everyone is familiar with the Cocktail watch, but here are some lesser-known models that were on display at the 1958 Basel Expo:

The Ernest Borel "Flash" Watch 

The ERNEST BOREL Factory can be counted among those which attach a great deal of importance to the development of technique as well as to constant research into new formulas in the presentation of the watch. It has made its mark in recent year, by launching a  host of new models onto the world market with great success. Among these are the COCKTAIL. DATOPTIC, EXTRA-FLAT. RENDEZVOUS and SOCIETY models and, last year, the VERSAILLES-style watch — all of which have been greeted with great enthusiasm. Remaining faithful to its progressive policy and thus proving once again that it is constantly in search of new ideas. the ERNEST BOREL COMPANY this year presents the results of many months of research — the amazing FLASH wrist watch with electric illumination. The problem of being able to tell the time in darkness has thus been solved in a particularly ingenious way thanks to soft diffusion of an indirect light which eliminates all possibility of any dazzling effect. The ERNEST BOREL "FLASH" watch will at last be able to fulfill the requirements of all those who until now have had to be satisfied with the imperfections of a dial with luminous figures. 

The latter can be recharged by means of a very simple device delivered with each watch. It can be fixed to any pocket torch with two elements for a period of a few hours after which the lighting system of the "FLASH" watch is again effective for a period of six months to a year, depending on the extent to which it is used. In addition, this operation can be repeated hundreds of times without having any harmful influence whatsoever on the accumulator of the efficient working of the movement, the latter being unaffected by any electrical influence. We should add that the FLASH watch is provided with a waterproof case and is equipped with a 17-ruby movement, shock resistant and antimagnetic, with unbreakable mainspring. It is available both in gold plate and stainless steel. We can say, with pride, that the FLASH watch is the child of two eras — the eras of craftmanship and automation, for the centuries-old traditions of horology have made of the movement an instrument of precision, while the essential characteristic of the FLASH watch has only been rendered possible by the progress of modern technique. We have succeeded in producing in quantity a wrist watch which is at the same time classic in appearance and progressive in the conception of its completely new system of illumination. The enthusiasm aroused by this new model has been ample reward to our efforts.