Hi there,
I am new to the forum and would like to have your honest opinion and thoughts on that Oversize (38mm) Longines.
Cheers,
Giovanni

 

I'm afraid it is a redial.

 

Yes, redial

 

Hi Mario, thanks for the answer.
I thought that in the late 40s the longines dials were enamel painted by hand...

 

+1 redial

 

...but not so badly done, or?
...however I had I watchmaker (who is doing Longines customer service) in my town have a look at the dial and he said he's not sure whether the dial has been repainted or not...

 

As far as I can tell and know, biggest giveaway is the dial foot top left on movement pic. It should be brass colored. Also, the painted winged hourglass logo was only done starting with the 60s I think.

It's not a bad redial in my opinion for wearing purposes. But resale value, not sure

 

Actually, the dial foot is brass coloured and not, for instance silvery shining. On the picture it can´t be really seen, since the foot is protruding the hole...
Anyhow, as you said, for wearing purposes it´s ok. I won´t sell the timepiece...

 

Indeed, the chosen dial is not too bad; better than some others I've seen. Nice cream color.

This how it probably looked originally:

 

I see!
Beautiful pictures

 

... so let’s see if I learned the lesson:
this dial should be original, not redialed...

 

Mario? Who is Mario??

 

Thanks, but they're not my pictures

And yes I would say that second one looks original

 

I repled to the forum member “mario linus”

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding but you had quoted me...

 

no problem!

 

Just found on Chrono24 a Longines 7855 from the late 60s (according to the serial number) with the exact same printed logo on the dial as my Longines 4915 from the late 40s (look at the "I" of Longines and at the left wing, for instance).
Apparently done by the same redialer, or an "official" stamp from Longines used by different redialers?!
Does anyone have an idea how to solve that enigma?

cheers,
Giovanni

 

Neither dial is consistent with the level of quality that original Longines dials present. It seems likely that both dials were refinished by the same person. Both watches are from Chrono24, a dangerous place to buy vintage Longines.

 

There are several obvious problems with the black (re)dial.

It is useful to compare a correct, original example of that type of printed logo:

 

Ciao Giovanni,
sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I bumped into it by chance today and I immediately noticed the similarities between your dial and one of my watches.

My grandfather bought this Longines 12.68z in Switzerland, in 1944 and kept using it on a daily basis until the mid '90s when he replaced it with a cheap $10 Casio. After disappearing for almost 20 years, his watch was found again a few years ago in a drawer in very bad conditions but still functioning.

As expected, all numbers peeled off soon after removing the dial from the case, but enough was left to see one interesting detail of the logo


Note in particular the unique and asymmetrical design of the left wing which is identical to yours. Interestingly, this small detail is not found in any official Longines logotype, but I noticed it in a few watches spotted online over the years.


Following the comments received from a Longines expert, I started investigating whereas my dial was original or not. To my surprise, the Longines Museum in Switzerland provided the following information:

The serial number 6’729’xxx identifies a stainless steel wristwatch with the reference 4858.

It was invoiced to Messrs.’ Wirth, who were for many years our agent for Switzerland, on 25.08.1944.

After much researches and our experimented watchmaker analysis, it appears that from 1938 to 1948 watches have only the logotype with “Longines”, without the winged hourglass. This was placed on dials only around 1952’

A further research suggested that the dial was original and manufactured by Stern Frères of Geneva, but possibly re-dialed or refinished in 1974. In fact, this date is engraved on the back of the dial suggesting that some sort of work was carried out on the watch at that time.

Most likely, the winged hourglass was added at that time and possibly the overall look of the dial altered. This is very strange though because my grandfather's budget was very tight and I'm really surprised he had money to spent on necessary cosmetic improvements to the watch.

This is not answering your question, but certainly your thread gave me some food for thoughts.

By the way, this is my watch now after a beauty spa.



Massimiliano