Vintage Longines metal bracelets

I am not sure if this topic has been discussed here before?
Original Longines metal bracelets from the fifties and sixties seem to be rare.

We know that some Conquest models like the power Reserve were available with such straps. Also the first Longines diving watch Nautilus from 1959.

Two of them are marked JB Champion on the back.
I can't find any manufacturer's mark on any of the other straps.

For which models were these straps originally produced?
Who were the manufacturers?

Thank you for your input!

I had the second from the right come on a 9024 reference Conquest, and I’ve seen the Nautilus bracelets come on 900* refs, 902* refs, and 904* refs. Endlink shapes are different across the refs, though (at least between 900* and the others).

I’ve always wondered myself what the one on the far right came on..

Nautilus bracelets - note the middle endlinks fit much better than the other two.


And what the original Nautilus bracelet box looks like.. at least the ones with the sliding clasp.

Amazing 😻 does something for sell here?😂🙏

I've also noticed that steel Longines bracelets seem to have been relatively unusual in the late 60s and 70s compared to other brands such as Omega and Rolex. If you go to Chrono24 and search for Longines with the filter set to 1960s and 1970s, you find rather few, and there is a predominance of mesh or milanese styles. There are also a few integrated models (e.g. TV style watches) from the 70s.

I've only really noticed 3 or 4 styles of link-type steel bracelets with end pieces, and the same ones seem to crop up on a range of different models (sometimes with different end pieces).

Here are three styles, all fitted to the same style of 37mm Ultra-Chron. They all seem to have end-pieces that fit this watch equally well. These pictures were from Ziet Watches, Hodinkee, and Longines' own "Collector's Corner" respectively.



The first one above appears on a watch of that style in the 1972 Japanese catalogue:
http://nakahiro.parfait.ne.jp/catarog/moji/longines2.html

The second one seems to be most often seen on a couple of styles of Conquest, while the third is seen on a range of Longines watches from this period, including other styles of Ultra-Chron.

If this was Rolex, they'd all have names and be famous! 😀

Those look great!

I actually have the same Longines bracelet as in the Hodinkee watch above. It's a NOS one I found for sale from a French watchmaker. And yes, it was bordering on the prohibitively expensive... I love it though.

Rare Longines bracelet for chronographs 30ch ref. 7412 and 7413, lugs distance 19mm (pictures from Private Eyes - Tokyo🙏).

The same bracelet from Hodinkee and of your NOS French Ultra-Chron above fitted a 5 stars Admiral I had in the past.

This auction just ended on ebay - notice that the Longines bracelet (same style as one of the three I posted above and with a Longines logo on the outside of the clasp) is branded JB Champion USA on the inside!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/167344568621

Now I'm wondering if this fairly common style of Longines bracelet is actually a USA only design, similar to the JB Champion oval link Rolex Jubilees.