Could A Vintage Longines Made Of Silver Scratch That Piaget Itch At A Fraction Of The Price?
I am not usually one to veer towards sterling silver watches nor the more angular cases of 1960s and ’70s dress pieces. So this article will feature not one but two new elements in a watch for me to explore. This vintage Longines has a charm that has gradually won me over.
While I don’t generally gravitate towards dressier designs, when it comes to watches, vintage Longines is something I have long been fascinated with. Unfortunately, in my home country of Australia, there isn’t such a large market for vintage Longines watches. But any peak on social media will show you just how impressively vast the Longines back catalog must be.
Vintage Longines is a wonderful rabbit hole
Longines is a watch brand with an incredible history. It was founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, and the brand still works out of there today. There are some particularly revered vintage Longines watches as well. Some that come to mind are chronograph housing the Longines 13ZN caliber, like the ref. 5699.
Chronographs aren’t the only vintage Longines treasures, though. The sheer number of beautiful Art Deco designs has been a part of the recent success of Longines’s heritage line, especially watches with sector dials. These included pocket watches, one of which was featured in this story by my colleague Mike Stockton. Nacho, our managing editor, also explored some vintage Longines designs in this article, which included a very handsome dive watch. Then, there are wonderfully quirky models like the Super Solo.
My limited experience with Longines
I used to own a Longines Heritage Classic sector-dial watch. In the end, I found this re-edition of an original 1930s design just a little too large for me, so it didn’t stick around. But there’s no denying Longines is one of the best major watch brands out there today when it comes to respecting its back catalog when releasing new watches.
Nevertheless, the original vintage pieces are some of the most interesting. Even the neo-vintage re-editions are worth your time. Recently, I wrote about getting my partner a Longines Heritage Conquest, for example, because of the iconic 1950s design. So when a friend of mine in the local watch community shared the story of acquiring a rare sterling silver Longines, I was very curious to get my hands on it.
An intriguing design reflective of the times
The watch in question is a mystery reference/model. Little information about it is available, and even expert collectors, like the VintageLongines on Instagram, don’t have many answers. What I can tell you is it’s a solid sterling silver watch with a complex and patterned integrated bracelet. The rectangular case, like the bracelet, was made by Baume & Co, UK. Examples of this watch usually date to the early 1970s, which reflects the design aesthetic of the time.
The dial is very minimal, with just the Longines text, hour and minute hands, and stick markers at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. These indexes act as a bare-bones method of reading the time since the dial lacks any hour markers beyond those four. But since the 12 and 6 o’clock markers are about four times as long as the markers at 3 and 9, it becomes quite easy to tell the time once you get used to it.
A comfortable, and shiny, bracelet
The lustrous wonder of a sterling silver watch is something I don’t experience often. My friend refrained from cleaning or polishing or polishing this watch when he bought it. He told me he liked to keep it completely original, even if that meant a little dirty!
Even so, in bright sunlight, this watch comes alive. The silver bracelet design reflects light in a way that I find rather enchanting. I have seen silver watches before — the Tudor Black Bay 58 925 comes to mind — but none with a sterling silver bracelet as well. And to be honest, this bracelet makes the watch what it is. Without it, it wouldn’t be nearly as fascinating.
Scratching that Piaget itch
This vintage Longines is no Cartier Tank competitor (Longines has the DolceVita line for that). But it does present an intriguing option for those of us who are interested in the aesthetic made popular by Piaget in this era. When I mention vintage Piaget, I am not just taking the Polo into account but a host of other designs too. Piaget is the king of this peculiar look and has a strong track record of striking designs.
As you can see in some of the examples above, Piaget has focused on far squatter case designs when it comes to precious metal bracelet watches. It is undeniable that these are beautiful timepieces, even if the design language isn’t something I naturally gravitate to.
Where to go from here?
My friend stumbled across this sterling silver Longines at a London market. Seeing the watch out of the corner of his eye, it sparkled in the cold English sun, and he immediately knew he liked it. I have grown to respect the craftsmanship behind these precious metal bracelets. I have also learned just how comfortable they can be.
The most striking element for me has been the way silver sparkles in the sunlight. It has opened up a whole new avenue of online research for me.
Closing thoughts
In conclusion, I have come to appreciate sterling silver as a watch material in a way I didn’t expect. Dear readers, do you have any suggestions for sterling silver watches that I could explore? I would love to read your recommendations in the comments section.
And how about you, Fratelli? Have you come across any watches that turned your collecting habits on their head? Let me know.
