The gauntlet has been thrown, and the challenge accepted. Omega didn't catch up to anywhere near Longines in the quality of their movements until the 50's at the earliest. Rolex wasn't playing on the same level until the 60's, and that's debatable. Longines' 30 series was as good as any of the 30 mm Omegas produced, and they had several other excellent smaller sized calibers like the 23Z and 12.68 manual winds. And as good as Omega's 55x/56x series was, the 290 series was a better engineered movement with a more efficient and durable winding system plus a larger balance wheel making it capable of more consistent timekeeping. IMO, it wasn't until the 60's that Omega played in the same league.

Longines was also a pioneer in the 36K bph field, sending the caliber 360 to the chronometer competitions as early as 1959. GP beat them to market in late '65 or early '66, but Longines' 43x series was recognized as the best high beat movement of the late 60's. They were guaranteed to keep time within 30 seconds a month - way better than chronometer standards of the time.

This will make you chuckle. Here's my Ultra-Chron 431 with it's 30m water resistance test slip. Not bad for a 40+ year old 18ct watch.




If some cruel act of fate forced me to decide between my '66 Constellation and '60 Conquest, there'd be listing for the pie pan the next morning. Take a look - can you blame me?




Also, we all know how cool the casebacks are on the Seamasters and Constellation. Medallions rule, right? Well check out these.






(photo by JimH)


The front of a Flagship ain't too shabby either.




For the last example, the watch that several watchmakers I know (Jesse too) call the best looking vintage dial design they've ever seen:




I could show you more, and stainless steel is poorly represented here..... because I only own one in that metal currently. It's my '73 Admiral C-case with the blue dial. My favorite day off vintage watch. However, the best stainless steel Longines you could own would be either the Conquest Power Reserve caliber 294 or the Legend Diver caliber 290. Both will set you back a tidy sum, but both have appreciated steadily and it's a safe bet they will continue to do so.

 

There aren't many dedicated Longines collectors out there like you see with Omega. I guess Swatch needs to hold something like Omegamania to boost interest. They can call it Longinesorama or something similar. At least most vintage collectors have, or want to have, a good example from the brand in their box.

 

I only have the one

 

I dont have a collection quite pristine as Dennis's but here are a few favorites i've picked up over the past 3 years:









These almost always stay in the box:





One day I plan on adding a High Beat UltraChron to my collection. I'm just waiting for the right one to show up.

 

That one is on my list. It has a caliber 352 inside - based on the 34x series but with subdial seconds. What case metal is it made of - gold plate, gold cap, or solid gold?

 

Ashley - you'd like the size of this one:



Did you guys know that when you collect enough vintage Longines watches these 3 ladies show up in a limo and are your escorts to the Oscars?



The brand has such an international flavor.

 

I wish it was solid but its not.. its only 10k gold filled

 

Here's my Longines from 2001 - the gold plating has started wearing off, but I still love the styling.
Apparently I should also apologise for it being a quartz

 

Have a few regulars vintage.

 

Looks like we have a few Longines models in common too. Nice one / two punch of Flagships too - a 30L manual and a 340 auto.

(oh yeah - dibs on the 30L!!! )

 

Nice Kommis! Thats a great collection you have there

 

Man! this is a sharp looking watch!

 

Here's my only Longines - I got this watch from my father in the early/mid eighties. He owned a retail store -mainly jewelry and men's clothing for over thirty-five years. His watch line included Bulova (I remember seeing many Accutrons with the "see-thru" dial on his display cases!) , Rado, Longines and Juvenia. I don't know anything about this watch besides it has remained in my possession for all these years - it has an automatic movement that has never been serviced and I dont have any documentation or box. I searched the Longines data base but could not find anything that resembles anything like this one. BTW, it works like a champ!!

Dennis, your thoughts?

 

It has an automatic but doesn't say "Automatic" on the dial? That's weird - unless it was refinished or something was replaced (either the dial or the movement was put in a quartz watch). It's probably a 99x inside.