Hi guys, thoughts on this vintage Longines? For sale from a "Trusted Seller" on Chrono24

 

It's pretty, the dial is original, and the case is most likely polished.

The 23ZS is a very nice movement, it was developed in 1948, at a cost of 55,000CHF at a time when much of Europe was still recovering from WWII. It was a successor to the 23M and included technologies which had been developed over the course of the war such as anti-magnetic properties and shock resistance. Longines movements of the period were extremely high quality, certainly nicer than a Rolex or Omega at the time, with refinements such as beveled plates and gold chatons securing the jewel bearings.

 

This one sold just after I posted....Was bummed about that. What about this one? Does the logo look original to you guys?

 

Looks original to me.

 

Anyone else? I'm close to making the purchase, want to make sure it's original before I go ahead! Thanks again for all your help!

 

For me, would depend on price. Nice movement but I'm used to see that type of case with watches from the 60's whereas that movement dates to ~1956. There are so many varieties of US-cased watches that I can't keep them all straight. I generally avoid gold-filled though, as I think stainless or solid preferable. I would not go over $200 max for this one, as there are a tons like this on ebay. Plus I'm a cheapskate .

If you can wait a bit, there are usually nice examples that show up on this forum's for sale section.

 

I'm not too much into gold filled watches and just avoid them. To my limited knowledge, I think most collectors would rather have anything else over a gold filled case, unless the design is so outstanding and unique. I just don't see that here, but other probably feel the same about what I would buy.

Really, unless it is for parts, I just don't buy anything that is gold plated, gold filled, rolled gold. They eventually start to brass or have really poor resale value. Even solid gold cap case, stainless steel back Rolexes just seem so fake compared to other metals.

 

Both watches are nice, and I like the first one better to be honest. That being said, I believe the first one doesn't have the original crown.

If the price is right I'd pull the trigger, if it's pricey I'd wait a bit longer. Condition of the case and case back could have been better... Dial as well, around the edges.

 

The first one was nice, I also preferred it much more to the second one and would also hold off.
I would personally be fine with gold cap as the gold layer is very thick.
I also have a 80 microns gold plate watch, which is so thick and high quality that military watch collector pals pushed me to buy it; saying it’s virtually indestructible. But that's only 80 microns, vs 10-20-40 micron which I would also avoid.

One does usually advise to avoid gold filled unless you really fall for a very special design and of course if the price is right. Many collectors here have done that at one point or another, there’s a full thread for those posts.

Finally when you post a watch for validation it’s probably best to avoid publicizing your source if you don’t want it to disappear from under your nose. There’s a courtesy rule on the forum that members won’t try to beat you to a watch you have posted but there may be others who see it.

 

Some gold filled Longines are worth collecting, in particular the 12.68z stop second chronographs. Some gold capped Conquests are very appealing and probably quite durable. Given the style that you are looking for, I would wait for a solid gold. Some 9K versions made for the UK market (cased locally) can be found for not too much.

 

Peruse the ongoing "Longines in the 40s..." thread as well. @gatorcpa comments about the need to separate the North American watches given that movements were imported and then cased here, rather than being shipped as complete products. The two examples you've shown are North American versions. The "LXW" import code on the movement is a good way to identify North American products, in general (yes, there are exceptions). @Syrte has impeccable taste, good friends, and apparently access to 80 micron gold-plated watches, whereas most of the North American gold-filled are going to be 20 microns examples that are more susceptible to wear, brassing, etc. 14K cases are almost always going to be North American, as the rest of the world does 18K, or the British with their 9K examples as @dodo44 mentions. Vintage gold watches can be good bargains, as opposed to modern, new watches, where the material cost of the few grams of gold doesn't justify the outrageous cost increase. You can find vintage watches that sell for not much more than the melt weight of the gold, so wouldn't rule them out.

 

Ha ha @argonbeam, thanks for the nod, I am lucky indeed to have good pals, only mentioned them because I would think military watch collectors have high standards for sturdiness and durability. And the person in question is much more experienced than I am.

However the 80 micron watch is question is an Omega found in France, not a Longines. I have no idea whether Longines made such watches. As a matter of fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gold plated Longines from the eras I look at, they’re always gold or gold filled.