Longines is the world’s oldest registered watch making brand, famous for its ultra-thin watches and extremely precise time keeping, a quality utilised by the Ferrari Formula 1 Racing team, the Olympic Games, and Albert Einstein, who carried a Longines Pocket watch.
The first Longines factory was built in 1866 by Ernest Francillon on the right bank of the Suze river near a place called Les Longines. He registered the brand name and winged hourglass logo in 1880. Longines was the first company to produce wristwatches by largely mechanical means in 1905. As early as 1912, they eschewed the typical round form for rectangular and square-shaped models.
Here we examine a 1960s Longines ‘Comet’ wristwatch:
The minutes are indicated by the dot, and the hours by the arrow. Both are on revolving discs, making them appear to move without being connected to the dial, hence the term mystery dial.- Red is a rare color, followed by yellow and then blue. It is also found in two-tone black and white, and brown and green variations.
- The watch was rare as the space age design was deemed too avant-garde for period tastes, so comparatively few were sold.
- This example was in excellent condition – the dot and the arrow usually discolor to a yellow over time.
Price Guide: £500-600 ($800-1,200)
Fine out more...
Official Longines website: www.longines.com
'Wristwatches: How to Compare and Value', by Jonathan Scatchard (Editor), Miller's, 2008
Image courtesy of Mark Laino.
