Longines

About Longines

Founded in Saint-Imier in 1832, Longines built a serious reputation in aviation and sports timing — it timed Olympic events and equipped record-setting flights, including Charles Lindbergh's navigation watch. Its winged hourglass, registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged watch trademark still in use. Today it sits just below the luxury tier, mining a deep archive for reissues that offer real design pedigree at accessible money.

Signature models

The references that define the house — and the ones you are most likely to meet.

• Master Collection
• Spirit
• Legend Diver
• HydroConquest
• Conquest Heritage
• Lindbergh Hour Angle

What to look for

Details worth checking before you trust a dial. None of them certify authenticity on their own.

• The winged hourglass logo should be finely applied or printed, with clean separation between the wings
• A serial number on the caseback that Longines' own archive service can date to the day of manufacture
• 'L' caliber codes (L888, L619) on the movement, indicating exclusive ETA bases
• Legend Diver models use a super-compressor inner rotating bezel driven by a second crown — the inner ring should move smoothly

Facts

• Longines will date any watch it ever made from its serial number — the archive goes back to 1867 and is unbroken.
• The Lindbergh Hour Angle watch was designed to Charles Lindbergh's own specification for calculating longitude in flight.