Longines Watches

I recently purchased this Longines Ultra Chron at auction. It is the second Longines that I have added to my collection.

The watch is solid 18K gold and as you can see has a gold coloured dial.

Nothing Unusual there then...

What makes this watch so great is the movment. The Longines Cal. 431 Ultra Chron movement was for a time the worlds most accurate wristwatch. It was the first watch that was capable of 36,600 beats per hour. This made the time keeping truely excellent and it was guaranteed to be accurate to within 1 minute a month. A massive milestone for the time.

The watch easily passes the test to be a certified chronometer under strict swiss standards.

This is my new favourite watch and a very unusual one. there have only be two 18k models on eBay this year, one of which I purchased.

I sadly must report that my beautiful new Longines has had to go back to the dealer who sold it to me. Sadly the movement had been badly damaged in transit due to a massive shock. You can't win them all.

I was lucky enough to be given this watch by my parents on Christmas day in 2005.

My father is a long time Longines fan and I had never really been into them, always favouring OMEGA or Rolex ahead of them. I was introduced to Longines watches by a client of mine who has 109 of them ! and I got hooked. My Father decided to buy me this to kick start my new collection.

The watch is solid 14K yellow gold. The case is rectangualr in shape and has unusual lugs.

The watch has it's original silvered dial with sub-seconds. The watch has solid gold applied hour markers and hands.

The watch is powered by the famous Longines 9LT movement. I had the watch serviced by my personal and also our trade watch repairers called Watch Doctors. A link to this fine company can be found on this page.

The watch now tells excellent time, better I might add than a few of my watches which have much much higher price tags. I have also had the crown replaced with an original new old stock Longines part.

I have fitted the watch with a brand new Longines black crocodile strap with a gold plated buckle.

This watch is my watch of choice when I need something understated and classic.

This is not an uncommon watch and I think these beauties are often overlooked especially in the UK. I urge you to buy one and enjoy the more subtle side of watch making.

You will notice if you go through eBay and look at longines watches you will see that many of them are 14K gold.

Many people ask me why this is, the answer is simple. Longines is more popular in the USA that it is in Europe. In the past US citizens were not allowed to hold 18K gold under bullion laws so fine watches had to be made in 14K.

In the grand scheme of things it does not make the 14K models any less desirable or any less valuable to any great degree than their 18K counterparts.

14K is usually my choice for Longines watches for one reason. It wears a lot better than 18K as it is not as soft. The colour is nearly as good.
Beware however as buyers in the UK may find it hard to get 14K gold parts should they be required as it is not common here in the UK. This is especialy true if you are tempted to buy a 14K Rolex as you will have a hard job getting a crown to match your watch.

14K watches of other brands like OMEGA do not hold as high a premium as their equally common 18K counterparts so if you can buy 14K and save yourself a bundle of cash !