The watch designs of the 1960s and 1970s have had quite a resurgence lately (check out our Watch Insider’s list of vintage re-edition watches here), and now Longines joins the retro party with its new Heritage 1968, a square-cased timepiece inspired by a vintage watch from the Longines museum in the brand’s ancestral home of St.-Imier, Switzerland.
As the model’s name implies, the vintage Longines watch that serves as its template dates to the turbulent year 1968, in which Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated and the war in Vietnam escalated. Few would care to return to those times, but the revival of so many watch styles from that era show that many still appreciate its smaller, simpler timepieces. The Longines Heritage 1968 is available in two sizes — 26 x 26 mm and 33 x 33 mm — and in either a steel or rose-gold case. The watch has a silvered dial, with a brushed finish, that features black, finely painted Roman numerals and a subtle chapter ring on its periphery. The centers of the hour and minute hands — rhodiumed in the steel version, gold in the gold version, have a touch of black varnish that echoes the lines of the numerals and contrasts with the dial.
The smaller version of the Longines Heritage 1968 contains automatic Caliber L595.2 (ETA 2000/1), with a diameter of 8 3/4 lignes, 20 jewels, a frequency of 28,800 vph, and a power reserve of 40 hours. The larger version is powered by Caliber L619 (ETA 2892/A2), also an automatic, which measures 11 1/2 lignes in diameter and has 21 jewels, a 28,800 vph frequency, and a 42-hour power reserve.
Would anyone know where to buy these? I tried stores in New York and London, and none of them carried it! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
This is a real disappointment for Longines fans. The 1968 heritage was the Ultra Chron which these superficially resemble. The Ultra Chron was a 36,000 beat per hour watch sold with a guarantee of accuracy in the wrist. It was one of the most accurate balance wheel watches ever made in quantity. The chronometer grade ones were even better.
Doing that again would be a real revival.
Not being pedantic Mark, but Kennedy died in 1963, and only circles have a diameter!
Hi Barry,
We appreciate our readers’ close eye for details, but in this case, those examples aren’t mistakes. The article is referring to Robert Kennedy, who died in ’68, not John Kennedy (’63). And the diameter mentioned in the article is for the movement, which is round, unlike the case.
Hope you enjoyed the article, otherwise. Thanks for reading and commenting!
got a Longines , good watches. these are both classic and modern at the same time
YUCK @ THE SHAMELESS DATE WINDOW
Longines make fantastic watches, yet all of these timepieces are quite affordable!