Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot in Le Locle. The father and son team initially worked out of their house, finding early success with selling pocket watches in the Russian Empire which led to relocating to Moscow.
Alliance with Omega
Tissot formed an alliance with Omega in 1930 in response to the global financial collapse, resulting in an era of Tissot-Omega watches that bore both companies’ names. Additional mergers were formed in the 1980’s, and was eventually renamed the Swatch Group which remains the parent company of both Tissot and Omega to this day.
Early Involvement in F1
While most motorsport fans may associate Tissot as the long time official timekeeper of MotoGP, the brand has previously enjoyed a rich history in Formula One. The 1965 release of the Tissot PR 516 served as a prelude, featuring a bracelet with holes styled after race car steering wheels at the time. After several years of sponsorships in the World Rally Championship, Tissot made their first appearance in Formula One with Loris Kessel in 1976, who competed in five races that season with RAM Racing. Tissot would continue their involvement in Formula One with Team Renault Alpine and Lotus Team until 1982. During that time, the Tissot F1 collection was launched in 1978. Tissot would eventually return to the Formula One grid in 1994 with the Sauber Mercedes Team.
Official Timekeeper of MotoGP
Tissot made the switch to two-wheeled Grand Prix racing in 2001 when it became the Official Timekeeper of MotoGP, a partnership that continues to this day. In addition to providing an exclusive watch for pole position in each class at each race, Tissot have also since taken on sponsorship of select Grand Prix events as well as MotoGP sprint races. This partnership has also included a plethora of MotoGP edition watches in both automatic and quartz.
MotoGP Rider Editions
Tissot also began creating rider edition quartz chronographs starting with the late Nicky Hayden in 2006. They generally had the same design as the standard MotoGP quartz versions with a different color scheme. Other riders to have T-Race models include Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Thomas Luthi, Tito Rabat, Bradley Smith, and Stefan Bradl. Enea Bastianini was also announced as a Tissot ambassador in 2023. In the same year, Tissot as became the title sponsor for MotoGP sprint races.
Kessel Racing
Kessel Classics and the Kessel Racing team are owned by the family of Loris Kessel, and Tissot established a partnership with the family operation in 2018. The Swiss brand worked with Loris’s son and brand ambassador Ronnie Kessel to release the Tissot Heritage 1973 Chronograph Limited Edition in 2019. Inspired by the 1973 Tissot Navigator, the Heritage 1973 had a limited run of 1,973 pieces and retains much of the original design. Major updates include a sapphire crystal, a third subdial and relocated date window, and a larger case size.
Following the success of the Heritage 1973, Tissot released a non-limited version in different dial options. While neither models are outright affiliated with Kessel, the strong ties make them worth a mention.
References
https://wornandwound.com/history-tissot/
https://www.tissotwatches.com/media/downloadable/pocket_book_en.pdf
https://wornandwound.com/watches-and-f1-tissot-lotus-f1/
https://www.tissotwatches.com/en-us/history-carracing.html
https://www.tissotwatches.com/en-en/tissot-world-sport-partnerships
https://www.ablogtowatch.com/tissot-t-race-motogp-2012-automatic-chronograph-watch-review/
https://sponsorship.org/tissot-to-continue-as-official-timekeeper-of-motogp/
https://www.professionaljeweller.com/tissot-welcomes-new-uk-brand-ambassador/
https://nationaljeweler.com/articles/6494-motorcyclist-lorenzo-joins-tissot-team-of-ambassadors
https://www.se-check.com/tito-rabat-becomes-tissot-ambassador/
https://de.watchpro.com/motogp-wunderkind-enea-bastianini-als-neuer-tissot-botschafter-vorgestellt/
https://www.sportcal.com/sponsorship/tissot-and-dorna-sports-renew-long-standing-motogp-partnership/
https://monochrome-watches.com/tissot-heritage-1973-chronograph-limited-edition-introducing-price/
https://www.fratellowatches.com/hands-on-tissot-heritage-1973-chronograph-review/
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/tissot-heritage-1973-chronograph-hands-on
https://monochrome-watches.com/tissot-heritage-1973-chronograph-review-price/