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Longines Agent for Eastern Countries - which are they?

  1. MJR Apr 21, 2018

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    Hi All I recently received an extract from Longines Archive for my Conquest which came back with the following. Does anyone know which countries were classified as the "Eastern Countries"?

    "It was invoiced on 17 November 1958 to the company Uhren Verkauf Büro (UVB), which was at that time our agent for the Eastern countries."

    Michael
     
  2. cicindela Steve @ ΩF Staff Member Apr 21, 2018

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  3. seekingseaquest Apr 21, 2018

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    I would just email them back and ask - they’re pretty responsive with additional questions.

    Edit: if you received a paper archive, email them via their web contact form. They have an option for ‘request history of a timepiece’ or something.
     
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  4. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Apr 21, 2018

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    Probably the agent for the post-war eastern European countries that had no individual agents. Just a guess, though, and Longines should be able to confirm the correct answer.
     
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  5. bubba48 Apr 21, 2018

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    Could be the countries that were under the Soviet domination (DDR, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia)
     
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  6. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Apr 21, 2018

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    Quick Google search shows a sales listing from Poland that mentions the company:

    https://m.olx.pl/oferta/longines-zegarek-CID87-IDqVaWz.html

    Cold War time period also (1979).
    gatorcpa
     
  7. TOTIZ Apr 21, 2018

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    Uhren Verkauf Büro is definitely German, so I‘m guessing that it is DDR, possibly in East Berlin. As for Eastern Countries I‘ll take a stab in the dark and go for the former Warsaw Pact countries.
     
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  8. MJR Apr 23, 2018

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    Than's everyone for the responses - I had tried Longines originally but they had not responded to my email reply after a week or so but will retry again. Somehow I never imagined the major swiss watch houses selling to Eastern Europe in the 1950s, you live and learn.
     
  9. Foo2rama Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can. Apr 23, 2018

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    You wouldn’t think Putin @5’7 and weary about his height would wear an IWC Petite Prince...
     
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  10. SeanO Apr 24, 2018

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    never get between a Swiss company and somebody's money.
     
  11. MJR Apr 26, 2018

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    Just to close off the thread I did finally receive an answer directly from Longines

    The company Uhren Verkauf Büro (UVB), based in Switzerland, was our agent for the Eastern Countries. The distribution area of this agent was specifically the Eastern Countries of Europe, such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Hungary, Romania or Czechoslovakia.
     
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  12. bubba48 Apr 26, 2018

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    :thumbsup: