This year marks 185 years of watchmaking history for Longines — and also the St.-Imier-based manufacturer’s first year as a sponsoring brand at WatchTime New York, America’s biggest watch show, held October 13-14 at Manhattan’s Gotham Hall (click here for info and tickets). Among the pieces the brand will be showcasing is the Longines Legend Diver, a sporty piece from its vintage-inspired Heritage collection, now available with a new Milanese bracelet.
The Longines Legend Diver, a modern re-issue of a divers’ watch Longines produced in 1960, made its debut 10 years ago, in 2007. Its 42-mm stainless steel case replicates the lines of the original. Both the crowns — one for winding the watch, the other for operating the internal rotating divers’ bezel, another feature of the original model — and the caseback are screwed, helping to ensure a professional-grade water resistance level of 300 meters. The inner rotating bezel, which serves as the flange of the watch, can also be locked in place by its dedicated crown, thus ensuring that a diver wearing it knows exactly how long he has been underwater. The black lacquered dial is punctuated by indices, numerals, and hands coated with Super-LumiNova; the 12, 6, and 9 Arabic numerals are executed in clear, blocky typography for maximum legibility, while a date window sits at the 3 o’clock position. Super-LumiNova has also been applied to the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands.
Inside the watch, under a solid caseback with an engraving of a diver, ticks the movement, Longines’s automatic Caliber L633 (a modified ETA 2824/2), with 25 jewels, a balance frequency of 28,800 vph, and a power reserve of 38 hours. In addition to the steel Milanese mesh bracelet pictured here, which has a double security folding clasp with integrated divers’ extension, the watch is also available on a matte black, textured, cowhide leather strap with a buckle or black rubber strap with a double security clasp with divers’ extension. Prices are $2,650 on rubber, $2,300 on leather, and $2,400 on the Milanese bracelet.
If you’re interested in seeing how the Longines Heritage Diver looks and feels on your own wrist, click here to order your tickets for WatchTime New York 2017! And if you want to delve into this watch’s features in more detail, click here to read a full hands-on review.
