I have from what I have been able to tell, I am still waitron the archive information from longines, is a 1944 reference 22891 32 mm and beyond that I’m pretty clueless except it has been in my family a long time and that it is a hand wound watch that amazingly still works. Any help would be appreciated.

 

What are you looking to find out? Having the ref. available will yield general info via goodle; if you want more collector's knowledge you'll probably need to post sharper images for the Longines experts (which I fully admit I am not) to provide sound input.

 

The reference can be obtained by contacting Longines with the serial number. The number on the back (22'981) is the order number. The watch was probably invoiced in 1945 and has a caliber 10.68Z. Unfortunately, the dial has been refinished. This makes it largely undesirable to collectors but it is a neat heirloom nevertheless.

 

Actually, your watch piqued my own curiosity, so here is a smattering of info to get you started; hope it helps. This appears to be a time only (chronographs were made) 'sei tacche'. These also utilized calibres 12.68z and 27M, from what little I've read. The Longines extract will likely provide greater details. These were commonly seen as daily wear tool watches of the time, i.e., for practical use and utility, and an older dial refinishing like this seems to be is not terribly uncommon, although it does impede collectibility for most hobbyists. In some cases, I personally find a decently done refinish an 'ok' thing, as it shows that at some point someone was attached enough to the watch to want to keep that particular piece as their watch, and not just junk it like so many people do nowadays with iPhones and the like. Especially with a proper servicing, always a good idea for a vintage piece prior to wear, this one should keep time steadily and accurately for many more years to come. Provided, of course, you remember to wind it.

 

I tried to get a few more better pictures how can you tell a watch is refinished?

 

The following link, from Hodinkee, a name you'll come to know and love/hate if you delve deeply into watch collecting, is a reasonable sort of starter's overview of what to look for.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/how-to-spot-a-redial

Not having seen yours in person, my somewhat educated guess that the dial was refinished is due to what seems to be some inconsistency in the various markings, as well as the entire dial seeming just slightly off angle, which could theoretically have occurred in production. Keep in mind its almost impossible to know the full history of a 70+ yr old watch, and others may have differing opinions as well.

 

I am curious why the redial fonts all look similar to me. Are they all done by the same person/group? I have seen a few samples like this in the past. Maybe the redial was done very long time ago?

 

So I finally got the longines extract and learned this much stainless steel wrist watch bearing the reference 5532 it is fitted with a longines manually wound mechanical movement caliber 10.68z and was invoiced on November 9th 1944 to the company wirth which was at that time the longines agent for Switzerland