Hello all,

Making my first Longines purchase from a local collector. I know little about Longines, and would appreciate some guidance from the experts. Specifically:

Whether this is legit? As in: no redial or franken-watch.
Is the asking price of USD $1100 reasonable?

The dial looks in fantastic condition; a little too good of condition given that it is a 1951 model.

Can any experts weigh in here

Here are the photos:

 

It is a Longines ref 1241 - first time that I see it. A quick google search shows shows the exact watch identified as that ref with a cal 22A. It was advertised 1 year ago from a seller located in Singapore for $1,500. I personally believe it is either a redial or refinished dial.

 

Good (and fast!) research. The seller is in Singapore. I also looked for this anniversary edition and reference with Google, but did not find anything more than you did; that's why I came here for some expert advice.

 

I do not think that this is a reference 1241. That would be a very early reference number, likely from the early 1930's. More pertinently though, this is an American-made case, which should not have a Longines reference number associated with it.

As for the dial, I agree with @gatorcpa, it does not look refinished. Better photos of the dial would be nice.

 

How did you guys know it was an American case to start with?

 

Immediately below is an example of another American-made case. Following is a Swiss case from the same period. As you can see, the markings are quite different.

 

L & K stamped on the watch case stands for Lutringer & Kammerer, a watch case maker located in New York City

 

The watch in question has an original dial, or the best redial ever on that reference. I've owned 3 of them (maybe 3 different US case makers were used for that style I think) and had one redialed because it was so water damaged.

Each American case maker had a different number for these 14K cases, so there was no one specific reference number AFAIK.

$1100 is a little high for that watch. For that money, I'd want a much better dial without the scuffing / scraping of the subdial finish.

 

Here is close up of the dial, which seems to confirm everyone's suspension of second-hand damage to the dial. A shame really, I like the reference.