Just inherited this beautiful vintage Longines. I don’t know much about Longines, any help here would be appreciated. If any of you guys could help with year, model #, movement calibre, anything like that. The case-back just says “10K GOLD FILLED” near the top lugs and “USE 1260 WRENCH” near the bottom lugs. I know it had to be older than 1980 but that’s probably pretty obvious just by looking at it. The logo at 9 is from Bowater which is where he used to work. He likely received this as a retirement gift. The bracelet is probably the original one but I don’t know for sure. I’d open the case-back to see the movement but I’m away from home for a while and don’t have my usual tools, and I’m also worried about damaging the case-back. It’s also in desperate need of service (pretty sure when he died he fell on his wrist, the crystal popped off and is all scratched up, the crown’s winding position doesn’t look all the way in, the whole movement and dial is loose from the case), any info on service cost for this would also be nice. I don’t care about resell value, I’m keeping this until I can pass it down one day.

 

Can't say much without more photos unfortunately, but please do post more photos when you have the chance. You can also submit photos through the Longines website and they will send you complimentary historical information.

Why do you say that the bracelet is original? Does it have a Longines logo somewhere? It looks like a cheap twist-o-flex with the expandable ends that are known to damage lugs.

BTW, do you mind mentioning whose watch it is? You just say "he" in your OP.

 

Yeah that's what I thought, figured it might be worth a shot though. What other photos would be useful? just so I know when I'm able to take them. Sorry, pretty new to this.

Sorry, he was my great-grandfather. His son (my grandfather) took it off him when he died many years ago and just gave it to me today. My great-grandfather received the watch from work and apparently wore it every day until he died.

I'm only assuming that it's the bracelet he got it on. It is just a cheap Speidel expansion bracelet, so not factory original but probably was put on by his work for whatever reason before he got the watch. When I wrote up the post I thought it was the original but thought after that's probably not true. If he changed out the bracelet I have no idea what the original would've been, or if anyone has it.

 

Great-grandfather, wow. Amazing to have that in the family.

Take photos from various sides of the watch, especially capturing any numbers or engravings. When it's open, the key photos will be of the inside of the case-back (with number in focus) and of the movement. Since it's automatic, there will be a rotor partially blocking your view of the movement, so you will want to move the rotor to various positions to make sure you capture everything. In particular, you want photos of the serial number in the movement (probably 8 digits), and of the caliber number (probably 3 digits) of the movement. Obviously take photos of any other engravings that you see.

Once you have all that info, you can set up a free account on the Longines website and request an complimentary Extract of the Archives (https://www.longines.com/en-us/certificate-of-authenticity).

The ends of that bracelet are spring-loaded, so they have a tendency to damage cases, especially gold-filled/plated cases. I don't recommend using it.

 

Thank you for the info, I really appreciate it. I’d open the case-back but I’m worried I’ll damage it. Not sure if it’s screw-down or snap-on. There’s no grips for a typical tool to grab on to in order to unscrew it, but also no lifted area to get a tool under in order to pry it off if it’s snap-on. Not sure if either of those were popular back in the day though. I took a picture of the case-back, as well as the sides of the case. Is there any way of knowing how to take the case-back off just from looking at it? Or is it trial and error? If it were any of my other watches I wouldn’t be too worried but this is a pretty sentimental piece as I’m sure you’d understand. Thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it.

 

There is no case-back, the movement comes out through the front after the bezel and crystal are removed. Not something you want to attempt yourself.

 

That’s really good to know, thanks. I won’t attempt it then. Just out of curiosity though, how would you remove the crown in order to access the movement? Would you need to remove the hands, then dial first? I know a lot of mechanical watches will have some sort of a lever or something similar to prevent accidental removal of the crown when trying to adjust the time, not sure how you’d do it otherwise but you might know.

 

I assume that it has a split stem, so you would pull firmly on the crown and the outer part of the stem would detach, allowing it to be removed with the crown. This permits the movement to be removed. Keep in mind, I am not a watchmaker, but perhaps one of the more knowledgable members will confirm or correct me.

 

I haven’t heard of that, but that’s quite interesting. I’ll definitely need the watch serviced so perhaps I could either request pictures of the inside to send to Longines or get Longines to service it themselves and ask about more details. I’m definitely curious about the year and movement so I’ll see what can be done.

 

For a watch like this, I would personally look for an independent watchmaker who is familiar with vintage watches. If you sent it to Longines, they might service it, but I suspect they would send it to their heritage department (I might have that name wrong), which charges a VERY hefty fee for a full restoration. Since you obviously don't want the repaint the dial, the amount of restoration that can plausibly be done is fairly modest. I suspect you will just want a movement service, and for the watchmaker to address the loose movement. And yes, obviously ask the watchmaker to take photos.

If you search, you can find some threads that recommend good watchmakers in Canada. Here are a few to get you started.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/vintage-longines-service-advice-canada.145200/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/approved-watchmaker-in-canada.78014/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-servicing-recommendation-near-toronto-ontario.87210/
https://omegaforums.net/threads/watch-repair-in-south-western-ontario-canada.63217/

 

Thanks, you might have just saved me a good bit of money. Shane Ede of Toronto Watch Repair seems to be the best bet for me. When I’m back in Ontario again, I’ll be sure to make a trip up to Toronto and see if he can service it. I’ve actually got 4 watches in need of servicing so I might be having to spend a fair amount of money coming up. The Longines will probably be top priority though. I’ve also got a Timex Marlin re-issue that has completely stopped working so that’s pretty immediate too, but the other two are a pocket watch that I’m more keeping for sentimental purposes, so that can wait, and a 1993 Tudor Prince Oysterdate which I just need the crystal adjusted as the cyclops is misaligned, but that’s just aesthetic and can wait. It’s also probably pretty cheap though so maybe I should get it done alongside the Longines. We’ll see.