@@turnbasedtoddy7664 that's been kind of the style for the last two decades though.. 40mm is the new 36mm. and to be fair vintage divers that are 36mm look kinda squat.. the bezels look ultra thick on them because of how small the dial is. the only time I really want a 36 or 38 is in a dress watch where the dial is pretty much the whole watch.
Longines is doing a terrific job of recapturing market share. I picked up a beautiful Longines Big Eye Avigation Chronograph in steel last year. Could not be happier with presentation, fit and finish.
Longines deserve a lot of praise for keeping their archive search service free unlike Omega. They are also super helpful and responsive. I had a watch that they couldn't identify from the photos I sent and they worked with me to get close-ups of parts of the movement which would enable them to identify it. Top notch customer service. My only caveat with vintage Longines is that because they were a proud, independent, ground-breaking company for so long, parts can be an absolute nightmare. Even things which are generic consumables for other vintage watches like mainsprings. Longines had a phase where they manufactured mainspring and barrel as a single sealed, disposable unit and.... those units are not longer available.
In the future, will it be the case with modern Longines that parts will be hard to source as well? Or is this something about their vintage stock? I ask because I'm looking to buy two watches, one that each of my kids can eventually inherit, and I don't want to go with a brand that will have parts hard to source decades from now.
RU-vidrs should stop that nonsense of using "cheap" and "affordable" when it isn't, at least not for 99% of the world. State the price in the title or thumbnail and leave the judgement to the viewers.
I recently bought a Longines as my first luxury piece. Took a while for me to save up and a lot of hard work. In other words, I could not agree with you more.
That's a horrible suggestion. Doing that would cut the view rate in half or more. Telling a person to do a bad business decision is easy when your paycheck doesn't depend on it.
You don’t leave the judgment to anybody. They use the words relative to the market for watches. Affordable means under 5K. Cheap is what you’d find on Amazon or something so under 500
Great video. I have become a huge fan of Longines and they are not overrated in my opinion. They have beautiful designs and really take time to create well made, well polished, and accurate time pieces. They are not in my collection yet but they will be in the future!
Guys, this is the best video you have done in this series. Excellent research and clearly a lot of thought went into this. Your suggestions were fantastic and interesting. Thank you so much! Cheers.
Nice video! I picked up my first Longines this past weekend. A 42mm Spirit Zulu Time, black bezel, dark blue dial, on stainless steel bracelet. Local AD’s rep was a true watch guy. We talked for an hour about watches, YT influencers, while I tried on 6 different Longines models. Fun experience and great customer service. They threw in a Longines ball cap, and packaged my purchase with care, in a beautiful bag. Oh, the box the watch came in is beautiful. A faux redwood branded box, worth keeping out in my home office to stare at 🎉
Very good content, keep it coming. I may be biased here, because I'm owning the 1988 Hour Angle Charles Lindbergh, ref. 989.52 on the original steel bracelet, since 1990. Such a nice piece. Hence, this is my favorite Longines watch.
Love the video and the pics. I've been a longines guy forever . I have 5 longines, new and old. I always consider them to be very under rated and one of the best values for money
I gifted my dad a 41 mm conquest automatic. Couldn’t find anything else for that price matching the quality and the appearance. Plus the 300 m water resistance made it great for his everyday use.
Excellent video. Longines hugely underrated. Had one in my collection but now gone. Won’t be long till they’re back in my collection. Problem is deciding which one, or two, or three…
I own a Master Collection triple date chronograph/moon phase from 2017. I wear it in rotation, and really enjoy it. It was my travel watch originally but superseded by a GS GMT.
In my opinion, Longines isn’t bad but also not on the same level as Tudor or Omega when it comes to fit & finish and movements. When looking on the relationship between Longine and Omega, to me this makes perfect sense since both brands have their specific niche in the Swatch Group lineup.
Oh boy, you struck a nerve! Longines is a brand I want to love, I really do. I own a Longines, it was a graduation present, it is a beautiful watch and I am fortunate enough to have it. But, they always fall short when it comes to the wearing experience. The Longines I have is a Spirit Chronograph. It is top heavy, the bracelet doesn't fit my wrist well causing the watch to bounce up and down my wrist. Plus the watch is so think that it catches on my long sleeve shirts. Even their modern pieces have this flow. I noticed the Zulu time suffers from the same experience. Tudor, in contrast, offers a perfect wearing experience.
Nice work! In terms of your question, they’re less known for sure, but I don’t believe they’re underrated. Increasingly they’re being seen as you see them, up and coming (back)!
Longines deserve more recognition and airtime. I'd say that they don't match the Omega and Tudor movements for accuracy but their dials are beautiful. And they have some very interesting model with enough variety.
Longines always used to be on a par with Omega (going back to the late 1970s / early 1980s) anyway, but Omega went upmarket, increased their prices accordingly, more than Longines did.
Longines is a great brand and makes beautiful watches at multiple price ranges. I would say that even a well to do collector could find something very nice in the Longines brand.
Longines made the first watch with a rotating steel bezel in 1935 yet peeps claim Longines recently copied Tudor with a watch. They are finally getting the props they deserve. Their vintage models can definitely hang with Patek Phillipe
Longines stopped making its own movements in the late 1980s and now uses movements from ETA, a Swiss-based manufacturer owned by the Swatch Group, Longines' parent company. 80% of Longines watches are mechanical, and 20% are quartz. Longines watches are assembled on site, and some say the movements are reliable.
Finally someone who doesn’t worship at all the temples of the brands that have more fakes than originals out there. Longines are terribly underrated and are incredible value for money. And I believe Longines is the oldest trade mark in the world still in use in its original form. What’s not to like. Unfortunately being very thin I cannot wear anything bigger than 36 mm diameter watches comfortably and not many manufacturers cater for scrawny guys like me.
They are definitely cutting Tudors lunch in the 39mm space. They have already done a titanium Zulu time in 39mm.....if they do a 39m Hydro Conquest GMT next then bam!
I wear my Longines Zulu time more than the tudor black bay GMT . I bought the Longines as it looked pretty . I got the Tudor coz of marketing. No more tudors for me as of now till they reduce the case thickness of their models.
It seems nobody can or will make a perfect traditional watch. Everybody has different standards. So far my $69.oo Watch Dives beats most. NH-35. The Best Lume and applied correctly. UV lite charge and will last All nite,beyond 12 hours. Ya! You don't get that on $2000.00 pieces with big names. I could have had that watch for less too. Flash sale. Surprised me and didn't quite figure it out. Only cost me another $10.00. A most excellent choice. Ofcourse it was a bit of hit or miss with such low price. It's fun "WATCHING" More fun wearing tho.
The new Conquest is something enthusiasts were screaming at Longines to do for decades, and they finally did it. A stunning looking watch! But they are not either value driven, or value for money. Not affordable for most people. Chrono24, stay with your feet on the ground, please, don't go with the hype
Vintage Longines has been my go-to brand for the last year or so. Just such incredible value for money. In the pre-swatch group era they had a wide array of inhouse movements aswell, im a big fan of the calibre L990.
I'm always curious for these "fallen Angel" brands such as Longines and Omega, firms with an illustrious history of making quality movements pre-1970s. Why is there no financial incentive to "re-create" the historical calibers, just updated with modern tech and materials? Seems a heck-of-a-lot-more interesting and marketable than some variant of ETA that Swatch imposes on the two brands. Omega 321 is the only example that comes to mind, and if it is not incidentally attached to the Moon landing, would the recreation be a reality?
Thank you for making this video. With their combination of their arguably unbeatable heritage coupled with they’ve done lately, Longines (both vintage, and new) certainly deserves to be talked about more often.
the advantage of some of the "lower" brands is that they have great service. Try speaking to Patek and you'll feel like a peasant. If they have a quality issue, they blame you. My Longines experiences have been shockingly good, as have those with Zenith. 2 Underappreciated brands.
A friend introduced me to Longines a few years back. I always knew of them but paid little attention. He had a Hydroconquest that his wife bought him for Christmas. Looked great and was a ridiculously reasonable price so I bought one - green on a rubber strap. Not long after that, I was walking through The Occulus in NYC during the early days of Covid quarantine being lifted and saw a video ad for the brand new Spirit Zulu Time with the green bezel on leather. Had to have it… so I made that purchase. The Rolexes, Heuers, JLCs, and IWCs still get wrist time… but that Spirit Zulu Time still stands as my workhorse. Gorgeous piece that goes with everything. Next up from them is an Avigation Bigeye in Titanium with the blue dial. That blue is stunning.
I really wished i was there when longines were at the top. Nowadays they're absolutely crushing the competition in their price range. If I'm not mistaken they are always one of the top 5 watch brands in terms of sales so they must be doing something right. I do wish they were allowed by the swatch group to go wild and flex on their muscles though.
According to Italian Watch Spotter, #5 Patek #6 Richard Mille #7 Longines #8 IWC Longines did sell 1.7m units (most out of the top 10) whereas Rolex sold 1.2m units.
I have a vintage Longines Grand Prize automatic, the one with white face and beveled numerals. It was a little tough to get serviced, because the dome “crystal” needs a special tool to take the movement out the front of the case. Looks wonderful, runs great, though I don’t wear it much on my large wrist.
Longines is a brand that you want to like.. But reality is you can't get the image away of it being a "mall" brand watch. Most of them sit in the cases wrapped in plastic, I don't think the boutiques do enough to showcase and display it's actual appeal. Definitely Omega, Tudor or Cartier would still be a first choice over Longines.
Unfortunately market placement is crucial in how a brand is perceived. You are absolutely correct and it is only recently that Longines has been trying to change that image. It will take time.
I wish everyone would shut up about Longines. I LOVE Longines. I have appreciated the heritage and craftsmanship since I began collecting watches. Best of all, they were affordable luxury. They were a "horological secret" that I could buy and enjoy. If everyone on RU-vid doesnt stop praising them and talking about how they are "underrated" the prices are going to shoot up....think JLC.
Love Longines. It is my favorite watch brand and I own seven different Longines watches in my watch collection. I love the value for the price that Longines offers which allows me to own several different Longines watches, to have an appropriate Longines watch to wear for different occasions and activities in my lifestyle.
Recently got my first Longines, Zulutime, flying GMT, 39 mm case, nice finish, very comfortable on the wrist. I did considered the Tudor Pro, the Longines is just slimmer, prettier and surprisingly cheaper. Excellent cost/benefit ratio.
I've personally always held Longines in the highest regard. If I could afford a massive collection of any watches, I would absolutely start with Longines.
Longines and Tissot are the two swatch group brands that are doing an absolute stellar job the last few years. Could they please show the “how to” to Breguet, Blancpain and Glashuette Original. They could all be so much more with a bit of attention. Thx.
Love Longines. They're killing it, no question. However, this association with Lindbergh is unfortunate. A Nazi...not just sympathizer, but helper, who openly called for extermination of people based on their religion. Not a great look for an otherwise amazing brand.
I own a Longines record it's a great dress or everyday watch. I would love to get the pilot majetek looks very good The main reason Longines can offer good watches at reasonable prices because it uses ETA movement. When I compare Longines to omega omega wins because of the movements and the higher quality cases and finish
Основная проблема в том, что у Longines нет часов-визитной карточки. Просто какие-то рядовые часы, более-менее качественные, но самые обыкновенные. Где наследие? Где порода? Просто десятилетия производства просто часов. Ничего особенного. Не вызывают вообще никакого желания.
Interesting video. Longines make some nice but mainly too big (for me) watches. Entry level? In the real world think Casio or Seiko. In the Swatch group they aren't even entry level, Tissot? Certina? Hamilton? Whilst the movements are fine you can't compare them with Tudor or Omega nearly all are either chronometer or Metas certified, the Tudor 1926 is the only exception I can think of.
Severely underrated. . .but. . .a bit lost on current model lineup. I wish that they would reintroduce some of their vintage models. Their current lineup feels restrained and limited with complications. Recently, I purchased the Longines Heritage Pulsometer Chronograph, or the doctor's ⌚, which was discontinued. A nice monopusher chronograph with a pulsometer scale but beautiful execution of a vertical clutch column wheel chronograph mechanism with enamel dial and blued hands. Even those not in the medical field would embrace this vintage inspired look. What about flyback chronograph mechanisms? Longines has one available in the Zulu Spirit lineup? Not for everyone. If any brand has the catalog and wherewithal to flood the market with great ⌚ at relatively less expensive prices, it is Longines. Plus, a Longines, though not supposedly at the same price bracket as Omega, is equally well built and finished. Yes, some bracelet components come from external sources in 🇨🇳, yet they are not bad quality. A Longines is definitely a lifetime time piece.
Longines was on par with Omega and Rolex, pre quartz crisis. Their current position slightly ahead of Tag and below Omega is the result of Swatch Group marketing.
I own the Legend Diver in the bronze case/green dial, and it's a stunner. Even if their prices increase, they still offer good value compared to many other brands.
The L5.669.6 should really be the Ur-Tank, not the Cartier. I'd sell the Cartier and buy one of those. I got that the Cartier tank was a classic, but it never spoke to me like the L5.
First decent watch I ever bought was a Longines. I have had a lot of them. I have a Weems reissue currently in my collection. But the current range is expensive. Not a Tudor or Omega competitor. Just No.
I’m new to watch collecting and have been trying to understand what the pricier competitors provide that I cannot get with a longines . Is it the lower prices that dictate the status of “ entry level” . I just got a new Conquest, and can’t imagine better fit and finish . It runs at + 1 sec / day
