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Suunto Oy is a company that manufactures and markets sports watches, dive computers, compasses and precision instruments. Headquartered in Vantaa, Finland, Suunto employs more than 300 people worldwide, and its products are sold in over 100 countries. Although globally active, the HQ is placed next to the factory, in which most of the work stages are still handcraft. Suunto is a subsidiary of Amer Sports Corporation with sister brands ''Wilson'', ''Atomic'', ''Sports Tracker'', ''Salomon'', ''Precor'', ''Arc'teryx'' and ''Mavic''. The word "suunto" can be translated as "bearing", "heading" or "direction". ==History== In 1933 the company's founder, Tuomas Vohlonen, a surveyor by profession, applied for a patent for a unique method of filling and sealing a lightweight compass housing made entirely of celluloid and filled with liquid to dampen the needle and to protect it from shock and wear due to excessive motion.〔Suunto Oy, ''Suunto Company History'', December 2001 (Article )〕 In 1935, Volhonen was granted a patent on his design, and it went into mass production a year later as the wrist-mount M-311.〔 Although it was not the first portable liquid-filled compass, Vohlonen's design was compact and lighweight, enabling it to be easily worn on the wrist.〔Gubbins, David, ''Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism'', Springer Press (2007), ISBN 1-4020-3992-1, ISBN 978-1-4020-3992-8, p. 67: In 1690, Sir Edmund Halley demonstrated a rudimentary working model of a liquid compass at a meeting of the Royal Society.〕〔Fanning, A.E., ''Steady As She Goes: A History of the Compass Department of the Admiralty'', HMSO, Department of the Admiralty (1986): The first liquid-filled mariner's compass to receive a patent as a working model was a nautical design invented by Englishman Francis Crow in 1813.〕〔E.S. Ritchie & Sons Company, Inc. ''About Us'', (Article ): In 1860, Edward Samuel Ritchie, an American physicist and instrument maker, received a U.S. patent for the first liquid-damped marine compass adopted for general use aboard ships and boats.〕〔Hughes, Henry A., ''Improvements in prismatic compasses with special reference to the Creagh-Osborne patent compass'', Transactions of The Optical Society 16 17-43, London: The Optical Society (1915): The first liquid-damped compass compact enough for pocket or pouch was the Creagh-Osborne, patented in 1915 in Great Britain.〕〔The Compass Museum, (Article ): Though the Creagh-Osborne was offered in a wrist-mount model, it proved too heavy and bulky in this form.〕 The company was entered in the trade register on February 4, 1936.〔http://www.copybook.com/military/suunto-personal-military-instruments/articles/suunto-turns-70-years〕 During World War II, Suunto introduced a compact liquid sighting compass, the ''M/40'', for artillery officers and other users needing a precision instrument for measuring an azimuth. The company grew rapidly after the war, supplying compasses and other navigational instruments to both civilian and military markets. After Tuomas Vohlonen died in 1939, his widow Elli Vohlonen ran the company until 1952, when she sold it to Paavo Kajanne, Aarne Mahnala and Veli-Jussi Hölsö, who also owned Redox Oy. At the very end of 1970s they sold the company to Niemistö family, and in the beginning of 1990s Sponsor Oy bought the company and listed it in a stock exchance in 1995. In 1999 Amer Sports bought the company.〔http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/tyoelama/2006-02-08/Suunnon-marssikompassi-t%C3%A4ytt%C3%A4%C3%A4-t%C3%A4n%C3%A4%C3%A4n-70-vuotta-3294463.html〕 Since March 2010 M. Sc. Mikko Moilanen has worked as CEO of the company.〔http://www.amersports.com/investors/sijoittajat/p%C3%B6rssitiedotteet/2010/2013/11/22/mikko-moilanen-nimitetty-suunto-oy-n-toimitusjohtajaksi〕 In 1996 Suunto Oy acquired Recta SA, a Swiss compass manufacturer. In the late 1930s Suunto Oy was located in Laivanvarustajankatu 8, Ullanlinna, Helsinki. In 1959 Suunto moved to Itämerenkatu 52, Ruoholahti, Helsinki. In 1969 the company moved to Juvan teollisuuskatu 8, Juvanmalmi, Espoo. Suunto Oy's headquarters moved to its current location in Valimotie 7, Tammisto, Vantaa in 2001.〔Suunto customer service, discussed 29.9.2015〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Suunto」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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