I really like vintage Longines. Love them in fact But a thing that I have not been able to figure out is if Longines delivered all their watches with a signed crown during the 50ies or not. I find quite a few watches with a signed crown and also many unsigned even with the same age and movement. Even many of the unsigned ones look identical to the signed. Anyone know?

 

Yes, some were unsigned. But no one will be able to help you assess particular example without photos.

 

No; of course. And it might come to that as well. I was just after the answer you just gave me; that some crowns where unsigned as well. At least now I know they can be correct even without the Longines branding. Thanks for the answer! Appreciated.

 

I have a 1953 Longines "Automatic" with a cal. 22as that has an unsigned crown, which I believe to be original to the watch based on photos of similar watches. It seems models with signed crowns started appearing around the time Longines introduced named collections; such as the All-Guard and Conquest in the early 50s.

 

As far as I am aware, signed crowns weren't offered on Longines watches cased in the USA. Other than that, as stated already, they began signing crowns about the time they started naming models.