I have gone crazy over the vintage Longines 18k Conquests. They are just so cool. I had always (foolishly) thought that Longines was always a second tier watch company. I knew that they were pretty good around WWII and up through the 60's, but never gave them any thought. To me Vintage Omega has always been the best with their designs and movements, but these conquests have rocked the boat.
Unlike the Omega Constellations that first got me into vintage, there seems to be little to know history on the Conquest or even Longines in general. I found the Watchtime PR spotlight on the brand and found it fascinating but it completely glosses over what I have come to consider the golden age of wristwatches. So my question is, outside of the sticky @ulackfocus posted where he went over the different auto movements, where else can I find more info?

I really want to know why the Conquest line came about. Was it a reaction to the Omega Constellation? I thought I read that having distinct lines within a brand was still pretty novel in the 1950's, so again, why did Longines make the Conquest or even Flagship for that matter? Also, the Connie's medallion has meaning in it. What does the Conquest's 18k medallion mean and why is it different from the GF and SS models? Both the Connie and the Conquest 18K have 8 stars. Did the Conquest also sweep the Chronometer competition? If so, why aren't the movements certified?

In general, I want to know everything (at least the basics) about these Conquests because they are just so amazing. The styling on the dials are, IMHO, just as great as the Connies of the 50's and 60's.

And now some eye candy to justify my new found love...

 

If you knew how highly regarded Longines was back then, you'd realize that it was more likely the other way around.

 

Haha! Really? What happened to them during the quartz crises? I know they were forerunners in quartz technology, putting a lot of effort into it and during the crisis were grouped into what is now the swatch group, but why are they now seen as second tier causing fools like me to believe that has always been the case?

 

The Conquest started life as the All Guard in late 1951, which morphed into the Conquest around late 1953 or early 1954, while having a very short parallel run as the Comet. Must have been something to do with marketing, particularly in the US. It was Longines' top of the line automatic.

The Flagship started life in the mid 50's (somewhere between 1955 and 1957) as Longines' top of the line manual wind - which probably spawned the Genève line of manual winds from Omega.

But who knows? It could have been the other way around with either, or both, lines.

 

BTW thanks for answering all of my questions. I feel like I've just discovered mechanical watches again so I'm super excited.

 

Couldn't tell you what led to their downgrading, but if you ask somebody who's older than 65 they'd tell you that Longines was THE brand back then. So much so that JLC and VC sought them out to help the two companies compete in the American market under the LeCoultre name. They would ship movements and dials to Longines' NY plant (marked VXN on the balance cock) for installation into US made cases. This saved on tariffs.

 

We discussed some similar topics - here's links to the threads:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/would-you-consider-the-new-35mm-heritage-conquest.12432/#post-143229

https://omegaforums.net/threads/what-other-longines-worth-collecting.861/#post-8412

Most detail on the Longines line-ups back then:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/conquest-v-admiral.5291/#post-62262

 

That is incredible. Before I got into watches about 7 years ago, I got a used late 90s longines. I took it into a jeweler to fit the bracelet and the watchmaker looked at it and said "don't make 'em like they used to." I thought it was a compliment but now I'm thinking it was reminiscing. I got rid of the watch to by my first Connie c case.

Anyways, I would be interested to know what happened to them because it seems really strange. I can't think of another brand who's image changed as much.

 

I'll check those links out! Thanks!

 

Longines was the undisputed king of inhouse movements from the 1910's-1950's, including chronograph, manual winds, automatics, pocket watches, split second complications, center chronograph... in terms of design, they were also top of the line. If anybody thinks them subpar, they just don't. know. their. history.

 

Love me some Longines!!!

 

I have the no date version of the Glitter Conquest. Love it. This thread inspired me to throw my Connie back in the box and grab the Conquest.

 

Oh man those chronographs are gorgeous!

 

Yeah, I'm thinking about selling my Rolex 5513 to fund the purchase of a Longines chronograph and a UG tri compax.

 

I would say that would be well worth it. Haha

 

They don't call it the Grand Prize for nothing