News To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Tissot is presenting its heritage at two exhibitions in Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds, a condensed and combined version of which will tour the world.
150 years of expertise and creative genius have enabled Tissot, from its headquarters in Le Locle, to export to more than 150 countries watches that have made their mark on history, through their technology and their design: the pocket watch with dual time zones of 1853, the antimagnetic watches of the 1930s, the Rock Watch, the Wood Watch and the Pearl Watch of the 1980s and the revolutionary T-Touch of the new millennium, to name but a few. Under the title "Time after Time", Tissot's rich watchmaking heritage from 1853 to the present day will be exhibited from 11 January to 31 October on two floors of the Château des Monts Watchmaking Museum which, like the Tissot factory, dominates the city of Le Locle nestling at the bottom of the valley. To house this historic collection, the museum's ground floor has been specially renovated, a gift from Tissot to the Château des Monts, trustee of the local heritage.
In parallel, Tissot is mounting a second exhibition at the International Watchmaking Museum (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds. As a tribute to the firm's pioneering spirit, the latter has for the first time agreed to stage within its walls an exhibition with an almost "promotional" feel to it. The company is in fact presenting the commercial aspect of its watchmaking activities, from the black and white posters of the 19th century to the Internet technology of today, complete with early promotional films of the 1940s. However, the exhibition is much more than a collection of advertising documents: it bears witness to the changes that have occurred in customers' tastes and expectations, from the desire for a watch for life, with emphasis laid primarily on the durability of the product and the precision of its movement, to today's consumer object, guided by fashion and technological innovation.
All aspects of the commercial environment, including logos and slogans, posters and sponsors, films and web site banners, are presented in a modern, interactive environment that corresponds well to the image of a company that for 150 years has striven unceasingly to reinvent itself and remain open to new ideas and technologies, a philosophy which its current slogan (Innovators by Tradition) perfectly encapsulates.
In tandem with these two exhibitions, Tissot is also organising a retrospective that will tour the major cities of Switzerland, as well as an international exhibition. The latter is a condensed and combined version of the two exhibitions of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds. It depicts both the different important designs of Tissot's watchmaking heritage, through around 300 historical pieces, and the development of the firm's communication techniques.
January 30, 2003
