Tissot was founded in 1853 in Le Locle by father-and-son duo Charles- Félicien Tissot and Charles-Émile Tissot. Toward the end of the brand’s first decade, Charles-Émile spent time in Russia, where Tissot’s pocket watches were welcomed and became very popular. In 1930, the brand merged with Omega to form SSIH (Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère); the watches from this Tissot-Omega era are very popular with collectors, especially the steel chronographs. Currently the brand is owned by the Swatch Group. Tissot has a long history of partnering with sports, the first being a Swiss skiing competition in 1938. Since then, Tissot has been involved with Formula 1, basketball, cycling, ice hockey, fencing and other sporting events.