longines

Longines, Official Timekeeper Of Kentucky Derby, Gifts Watches To Race Winners

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Sports

Longines, now the official timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby and its home track Churchill Downs, recently was able to award the winners of the 2011 Kentucky Derby with a Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph watch. Longines recorded a winning time of 2.04 minutes as the running time for "Animal Kingdom" the winning horse. The Swiss brand rewarded the horse owner Barry Irwin, jockey Johnny Velazquez, and trainer Graham Motion each with the classically inspired timepiece. The link above will take you to a previous article that discusses the piece further along with Longines' involvement with them famous horse race. Participation with the well-known high-society event is important to the historic brand that is fighting for a larger share of the US high-end watch market. It is also part of an overall trend of watch brands taking more of a key role in popular US cultural events.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Longines Kentucky Derby 2011

Tags: 2011, kentucky derby, longines, timekeeper, watch, winner

Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph Watch For Winner Of Kentucky Derby

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Longines is now the official timekeeper and timepiece maker of the Kentucky Derby and its track Churchill Downs. For this year's esteemed horse race Longines will present one of their newer Column-Wheel Chronograph watches to the winner of the race.

Longines - part of the Swatch Group - worked with ETA (also part of the Swatch Group) to develop a special movement for Longines that captured the classic nature of the traditional watch brand. The movement is an automatic chronograph, but one that uses a historic column-wheel transmission system in the movement. Column-wheel chronographs are those found in many of the best chronograph movements.

Set in a steel case, the Ref. L2.733.4.72.2 Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph is extremely classic in its execution and design. The case is 39mm wide in steel, with a brown alligator strap. The exclusive movement inside of the watch is the mechanical caliber L688.2 which provides the tricompax chrono subdial layout. The dial design is extremely classic. In fact the entire watch is more or less a recreation of a classic Longines watch design. The dauphine hands have thin strips of lume, and there are applied hour and minute markers. For a bit of nostalgia the piece is very nice, price is $2,850.

Ariel Adams publishes the wrist watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: colum wheel, kentucky derby, L2.733.4.72.2, longines, prize, watch, winner

Longines Master Collection Retrograde Moon Phases Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Watch dials that make use of a number of retrograde hands that display a lot of information are hard to pull off. They simply end up making dials look cluttered and really hard to read. So when a brand designs a watch with a dial that has a few retrograde hands, and it looks good - then there is reason to take notice. I first noticed the good looks of the Longines Master Collection Retrograde Moon Phases at Baselworld 2011 where it was being debuted. It immediately "spoke" to me, and I think others will like it as well.

Longines will offer the watch in a 41mm wide or 44mm wide steel case with a black or silvered dial. The dial is engraved with a decorative pattern. Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic movement that has four retrograde hands. These are for GMT time, the date, day, and seconds. The watch also has the time, moon phase indicator, and a day/night indicator. Really a lot going on, but it isn't intimidating to look at. The watch is available on a black or brown alligator strap with a price of 3,500 Swiss Francs.

Ariel Adams publishes the wrist watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: collection, longines, master, retrograde, watch, watches

Longines Twenty-Four Hours Vintage Re-Issue Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Longines Twenty-Four Hours Vintage Re-Issue Watch

I hear that vintage Longines watches are hot now on the auction market. Collectors seem to like their good quality to price ratio. That will change though as the sharks start to swarm. Despite the appeal of the actual vintage market, I just don't get why this watch was made. Not that there is inherently anything wrong with the Longines Twenty-Four hour watch, but I yawn when I look at it.

The original watch that it was based on was a specially commissioned watch Longines made for Swissair pilots from about 1953-1956, This little fact is engraved on the inside of the pop-open caseback (that is what that little button under the crown is for). That latter element is neat, but is not unique to this Longines watch. Just like the original, the dial is vintage in appearance with an hour hand that moves around the dial once each 24 hours. There are plenty of other watches that do this, and many of them for less money, with a more interesting look.

The steel case is large at 47.5mm wide, and the watch contains a modified ETA Valgranges A07-171 automatic movement. Like I said, not that there is anything wrong with the watch, but I don't know how Longines is making it for aside from a handful of collectors. It isn't particularly interesting look, not does it fill a functional use that other watches don't. So I will just keep scratching my head and wishing Longines my best.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2011, 24, hours, Longines, twenty-four, vintage, watch

Joe DiMaggio's Longines Watch Up For Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

The December 8th Antiquorum auction in New York city is impressive because it is the first time I can recall where there are no Patek Philippe watches available! Amazing. One of the pieces up for bids is this small 14k pink gold wrist watch that belonged to (and was worn by) historic New York Yankees baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Estimated to have been made in the 1940s, the rectangular wrist watch has a gold and steel strap, and a dial with diamond hour markers. Further, classic Longines watches are also experiencing increased interest from some collectors. The auction also happens to include a pocket watch that was given to DiMaggio in the 1970s. Auction estimates for the Longines wrist watch are between $5,000 - $7,000.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: auction, dimaggio, Joe DiMaggio, longines, watch

Kate Winslet Is New Longines Watch Ambassador

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Kate Winslet is one of Swiss watch maker Longines' newest brand ambassadors. Here helping to promote a new addition to their DolceVita collection of watches for women. The collection has a range of timepieces with various levels of luxury appointments. This model (ref. L5.155.5.19.7) is in steel and gold with diamonds and a Swiss quartz movement. Winslet is seen here wearing the DolceVita watch. Price for it is $4,100.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: DolceVita, Kate, L5.155.5.19.7, Longines, Winslet

Longines Expéditions Polaires Françaises Missions Paul-Emile Victor Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swiss watch brands are almost universally against replica watches... unless that is, if they make the watch themselves! For 2010 Longines will offer a special edition re-release replica of a watch used by French scientists during a mission to the Arctic in Greenland. This was back in 1947, and they needed the right watch for the job. Two of the members of the Expéditions Polaires Françaises wore these special Longines watches that were made for the excursion. Unique features at the time included luminant on the watch dials, a centrally mounted seconds hand, as well a shock absorber system in the movement. The French team was led by scientist Paul-Emile Victor, whose name is part of the watch title.

The reissue model is very similar to the original. With some differences that help the new version feel more modern, including an ETA 2892-2 automatic movement, as well as an AR coated sapphire crystal. The hands and hour indexes are now coated with SuperLumiNova. At 38.5mm wide in a steel case, the watch isn't exactly large - or pretty for that matter. It does have a certain nostalgic appeal to it, and it is highly legible, but it isn't going to win and beauty pageants. Just a decent retro looking watch with some interesting heritage, that people will likely mistake for a vintage. If that fits the description of the next watch that you want, them look out for this piece from Longines soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Longines Expeditions Polaires Francaises Missions Paul-Emile Victor Watch back

Tags: arctic, expedition, france, french, L2.732.4.76.X, longines, re-issue, replica, watch

Longines Lindbergh's Atlantic Voyage Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Honestly I don't know if I can take another Lindbergh themed watch from Longines. Yes, I know that back in the 1930s Longines made a special watch for Charles and he wore it on his famous trans-Atlantic flight. And like Omega with the Moon watch, Longines has been trying hard to squeeze this fact for all its worth. Maybe it is because these watches aren't particularly interesting, or perhaps because the theme seems too staid, but I just stopped caring myself about this a while ago. Nobody cares about the "excitement of flying over the Atlantic," because these days, people do it daily. Whereas, going to the Moon is still, sort of a big deal.

What I do want to see is "Lindbergh's Baby Watch." There, the caseback of the watch will open to reveal the missing kid, not just the movement. Of course that will never happen, but I can dream. Longines seems to be quite lacking in innovation in the men' watch department. There have probably been better Lindbergh themed Longines watches in the past, but here is the skinny on this latest one.

It isn't very skinny at all at 47.5mm wide in either steel or 18k rose gold. Like a pocket watch, the case has a hinge at the back which opens to a sapphire crystal view of the ETA A07.231 automatic 30 minute chronograph movement. Pushing in the crown opens up the back of the watch. The dial is really more of the same from what we have seen with these style of watches. Bi-compax chronograph layout, blued steel hands, and a "vintage colored" dial with "railroad style hands" and tachymeter scale around the periphery of the dial. I usually don't say this about many watches, but this watch is just a bit too big. Almost 48mm in this classic style will just look a bit silly on wrists. Yes, 47.5mm wide is the size of the original Longines Lindbergh watch, for Charles Lindbergh... fine, for the collectors sake leave it that size. Strap is brown alligator leather. It bores me to death, but hey, Longines has got to do what they need to do, to keep on ticking.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: atlantic voyage, AtlanticVoyage, Lindbergh, Longines, watch

Longines Primaluna Watches

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

A new women's watch collection from Longines reasserts the brand as one of the best places to go for a pretty jewelry style women's watch with one full leg in the luxury pool without prices that will make you balk. A mouthful of a statement yes, but so is the competition in this area. While I am not always keen on Longines' men's offerings their watches for women are an easy choice for women either as purchased by them, or as gifts.

The Primaluna collection offers a range of style with a soft round case and classic jewelry style bracelet. Longines was smart to offer the design in steel with modestly priced quartz movements all the way up to high end luxury models in gold and diamonds with automatic mechanical movements in them. Each model is 30mm wide with a sapphire crystal and water resistant to 100 meters.

Even the basic models are nice. The dial designs vary intensely, but the nicest are likely those that resemble the Cartier look with Roman numerals and blued steel hands. Diamond are available for the hour markers as well as on the dials. In addition to the all steel or all rose gold models are two-tone models as shown - while the rose gold is either an applied tone or the metal itself.

Style of the watches is conservative but timeless. I can't see any dignified woman being opposed to wearing one. I appreciate that Longines put their time into creating the Primaluna collection and offering it as an entry level luxury piece or as a higher end jewelry watch.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Longines Primaluna Watches

Tags: 2010, ladies, longines, primaluna, watch, womens

Ski Your Way To A New Watch

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I'm not saying you're wasting time at your desk but if you just happen to have a wee bit of free time on those long, slow days before Christmas check out the Longines Ski Challenge. It's a neat little skiing computer game in which you can try your luck on some of the world's best and most attractive downhill courses. Ski Lauberhorn, Streif or Saslong - all the courses are modeled 1:1 on the original pistes. And the best part is that Longines will reward the best competitors. Top prizes include 12 Longines HydroConquest diving watches.

Source

Tags: games, longines, skiing, watches

Einstein's Watch Sells for $596,000

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

Antiquorum auctioned off Albert Einstein's 1930 Longines wristwatch yesterday. The house estimated the watch would fetch up to $35,000. They got $520,000. (With fees, the total came to $596,000.) That's over 2000% higher than the estimated price, and a record for any Longines at auction.

The watch is inscribed to "Prof. Albert Einstein," and is also marked with the date on which it was presented to him, February 16, 1931.

[Thanks, Ben!]

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Tags: albert einstein, AlbertEinstein, auction, longines, watches

Longines Watches For Baselworld 2006

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Longines is showing off four main models at BaselWorld. Longines isn't one of the companies that produces intricate whirling tourbillons, massive bulky bolted watches, or gem-heavy dazzlers, instead they specialize in classic and refined looks. The first are the latest incarnations of their Les Elegantes line, a look back at the delicate Art Deco watches of the 1920s and 30s. This year they are using three designs inspired by their collections dated from 1928 and 1931.