Its celebratory designs exemplify its creative mastery.
In most luxury businesses, a leading brand celebrating a decade anniversary is something of a big deal. In Swiss watchmaking, however, its rather small potatoes. Reputations here, governed by the painstaking nature of the trade, are built over multiple decades, and even over centuries, as makers research and develop new and ingenious ways to harness time mechanically. That long cycle does not, however, mean that watchmakers don’t like to celebrate significant milestones.
This month, legendary maker Longines celebrates its 190th anniversary with a trio of specially created designs that underline its position as a leading light in both the look and the function of watchmaking. Founded in 1832 in St. Imier, in Switzerland’s Northern Jura mountains, the brand was a prominent and early leader in developing the technology to time sports events, and it remains an active player in partnership with many major sports federations.
There’s a third thing — we feel — about Longines that’s always worth a mention here. Longines offers, much as it has always has, tremendous value and it’s an example of precision combined with innovative excellence that, even a decade shy of two centuries in business, still won’t break the bank.
The Longines 190th anniversary collection of simple three-hand 40mm watches features three subtly different pieces out of the Longines Master Collection. Each dance a neat line between classic elegance and modern functionality – something with which Longines has long been particularly synonymous. It pays to get up close to parse out the variations. Two limited edition versions (190 pieces each) in 18-carat yellow or rose gold and a third (unlimited) in stainless steel come with three different dial treatments. The steel version has a sandblasted silver dial, and classic blued hands. The yellow gold has a fetching vertically brushed grey surface and yellow gold hands, while the rose gold comes in a grainy finish anthracite. Each watch has its classic Arabic numerals deeply engraved in the dials, exposing contrasting metals to match the cases (and the hands too in the gold versions). Subtle tweaks like these give real depth to the display. They look cool, too.
None of these watches are merely pretty faces (cough) however; behind them beat Longines’ exclusive calibre L888.5 self-winding movement, with an impressive power-reserve of 72 hours. And a silicon balance spring staves off the effects of magnetic fields and temperature variations on the movement’s performance. All three watches carry a unique historical Longines logo on the dial and have engraved clear sapphire crystal case backs to show off the movement and come with an anthracite soft finish alligator folding strap. The limited-edition gold versions are — as one might expect — priced rather higher than the steel. But at $2400 the steel is an absolute steal. While the limited editions will doubtless fly off the shelves in short order, the steel version could well become a mainstay, meaning it could well find its way onto your wrist too before long.
Longines Master Collection 190th Anniversary watches, $2,400 in steel, $12,000 in rose or yellow gold. .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}Longines.com
Nick Sullivan is Creative Director at Equire, where he served as Fashion Director from 2004 until 2019. Prior to that, he relocated from London with his young family to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. He has styled and art directed countless fashion and cover stories for both Esquire and Big Black Book (which he helped found in 2006) in exotic,uncomfortable, and occasionally unfeasibly cold locations. He also writes extensively about men’s style, accessories, and watches. He describes his style as elegantly disheveled.
.css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Baume & Mercier’s New Well-Dressed Watches
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