- Hi folks. I just aquired this Longines Special and I would appreciate what you have to say about it. I have not yet seen the movement but it should be the 27M movement. (My main interest is in marine chronometers.) It has a so called "sei tacche" back. Case is 33-34 mm and I asses the watch as all genuine, but I am no expert on these.
Maybe it has been relumed. I intend to change the crystal and replace the strap.

Here is a picture of the aquired watch. I also post a picture of a similar one in much worse condition.



And here is the watch with a deteriorated dial (no longer in my possession)

 

A very nice example. Maybe hands were re-lumed but they look good. Crown is the earlier style so watch is probably pre-1950. Thanks for sharing.

 

Boy I learn something new every day. To me they both look like redials.

 

I've never heard of the Longines "Special" until today so my first instinct would have been a redail, but they do appear to be authentic after looking at similar watches online.

 

Indeed, these "Special" dials tend to lack the precise style of most, earlier sei tacche models.

 

Do you know what the "special" meant? Were they a more inexpensive model? Reminds me of fountain pen collecting. The Parker 51 Special had a steel alloy nib instead of 14k and a cheaper cap.

 

I don't know if it will help but my mom always called me special.

 

Most I've seen were originally invoiced to Sweden. So maybe it was a marketing thing like Omega's "Suveran" and "Officer". All seem to have cal. 27M (a slimmer version of the 12.68Z) so I suppose that they could have been marketed as "special" in that regard.

 

We all are in our own ways

 

Thank you. That makes sense as Longines seemed to have a habit of that, hence the "Sport Chief," which seemed to be a line that was only offered in Sweden and Norway.

 

I appreciate all answers, dear fellow forum members! I have also seen Special watches invoiced to Sweden. I think these watches were mainly sold in Sweden. I remember that the distributor in Sweden in those day´s was a company called Terasse.


Here is another Longines Special recently sold on the forum. Photographs by tomvox 1

Source: https://omegaforums.net/threads/vin...”-cal-27m-sei-tacche-black-radium-dial.62557/



And another similar one but with no Special on the dial...

 

As a side note, the third watch is likely a "DH" type: https://omegaforums.net/threads/longines-sei-tacche-deutsche-heer-12-68.69299/

 

I think so to. Here is a Glycine of mine with those markings:

 

And here is the back of the recent aquired Longines Special. The DNA is not mine as I have not yet recieved the watch

 

In some cases, I have seen the word "special" on the dial when the movement has a lower jewel count and/or more basic (i.e. money-saving) features. I don't know if it's completely accurate, but in the Ranfft archive, the cal 27M is listed with 15 jewels, while the cal 27.0 has 17 jewels and has a Breguet hairspring. Yes, the 27M is also thinner.

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Longines_27M
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Longines_27_0

 

@Maskelyne - I have exactly the same model as the one in the picture - I used to wear it every day when studying.. The same squarish numerals. I always wondered why it has squarish numerals. It seems to have sold for a lot of money.

I wish I remembered what condition mine was in.

 

This gets exciting Dan and folks! Here is a picture of the movement (27M) and the belonging watch. Serial indicates circa 1951 and it has 17 jewels. Could there be a fault in Ranfft data.

 

Pics please...

 

Ranfft is more of a guide than a comprehensive catalog. The 27M can be found with either 15 or 17 jewels, as with most of Longines' time-only calibers. Cal. 27.O ("O" standing for "or") was reserved for solid gold cases and therefore had higher end features like the Breguet overcoil hairspring and 17 jewels.

 

Oh well, so much for my idea. I'm not too surprised. It's pretty common to see variations of the same movement with different jewel counts, depending on when it was made, and to where it was exported. Roland's archive is an extraordinary piece of work, but it doesn't necessarily have every variation.