An Exclusive Inside Look At Longines’ New Collector’s Corner

Last month, Longines opened its new Geneva boutique on Rue du Rhône, one of the Swiss city’s most popular shopping streets. Inside and outside, the dedicated space lets visitors immerse themselves in the world of Longines, with many of the Saint-Imier-based brand’s creations on show, as well as references to the company’s connections to equestrian sports and aviation.
 

Naturally, the brand’s latest collections are on display, but accompanying them is a fantastic new “Collector’s Corner,” which offers restored vintage Longines timepieces for purchase, the first time the company with the winged hourglass logo has undertaken such an initiative.

Each of the historic watches on offer – all dating back more than 30 years and equipped with in-house movements – has been serviced and revised by specialist watchmakers in the Longines heritage workshop. Each piece also comes with a two-year warranty and certificate of authenticity.

Many of the world’s best watch collections have a Longines in them, and vintage Longines timepieces, in particular, are highly valued by the collector community. The new Collector’s Corner gives you a chance, then, to put a piece of Longines – and Swiss watchmaking – history in your line-up of watches.
 

To kick off its Collector’s Corner, Longines is physically showcasing a dozen or so unique models at its Geneva boutique, which will gradually be built out. Some of these are also available for reservation on the new Collector’s Corner page of the Longines website, with the display of each watch complemented by original advertising artwork and retro visuals, taking us back to the era of the timepiece’s inception.
 

Recently, the Watchonista team managed to go hands-on with these eight vintage watches.

Short for “ultra-chronometer,” the Ultra-Chron Diver from 1968 was one of the first high-frequency dive watches, as well as one of the most precise. Beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, the in-house calibre 431 has an accuracy of one minute per month, which translates to two seconds per day. The 41mm stainless steel tonneau case is water-resistant up to 200 meters. Meanwhile, the indices, hands, and triangle on the unidirectional bezel are tritium filled for better legibility in the murky depths. The price is CHF 3,250.
 

From 1954 onwards, Longines timepieces were arranged into families, starting with the Conquest family. This perfectly restored Conquest Calendar (ref. 9004) was released in 1955 and packs the 19ASD automatic manufacture calibre with date complication, notable for its anti-magnetism and shock-protection features. The 35mm stainless steel case, set with a champlevé enameled 14-karat gold medallion inlaid on the caseback, ensures it is waterproof. The price is CHF 2,980.
 

This “fancy-shaped” wristwatch is part of the small ladies’ watches created by Longines at the end of the 1940s. The 19.4mm square case in 18-karat rose gold houses the calibre 15.18, which is architectured into an oval shape. The price is CHF 2,760.
 

Longines made this 40mm Pilot’s Watch Majetek for the Czechoslovakian Air Force from 1935 to 1948, using three different movements over that period. This example from 1938 is one of the rare first iterations featuring the anti-magnetic and shock-proof calibre 15.94.

Under the “unbreakable” crystal, the black dial features Arabic numerals, cathedral hands, and a triangular indicator – located on the rotating bezel for setting a predetermined time – all filled with luminescent radium to make them easily readable at night. Some Czechoslovakian Air Force pilots went on to fly for Britain’s Royal Air Force, though this piece has no military markings on the back. The price is CHF 6,150.