Introducing: The Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon
With the new Ultra-Chron Carbon, Longines continues bolstering its already impressive lineup. Plus, the watch features the brand’s first-ever carbon fiber case. This is a beautiful dive watch with an outstanding movement.
Longines reintroduced the stainless steel Ultra-Chron in 2022, and it was praised for its 36,000vph movement and design, which evokes the 1968 original. Now there’s a new variant. The Ultra-Chron Carbon follows a similar form but looks strikingly different.
The Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon
This watch uses the brand’s first carbon fiber case and pairs it with a titanium crown, bezel, and case back. Due to this, the 43mm by 48mm diver weighs just 80 grams. A domed sapphire crystal brings the thickness to 13.6mm, which is reasonable for a watch with a 300m water resistance rating. The screw-down crown and screw-in case back reinforce this capability. Unlike the steel version with a bracelet, this watch is available exclusively on a black technical fabric strap with a titanium buckle.
A successful mix of black and gray
The Ultra-Chron Carbon blends a layered carbon fiber case with titanium details, including a 60-minute bezel with a black aluminum insert. The sand-blasted anthracite dial contains applied and polished metal indices. Longines chose titanium-matching gray PVD-coated hands and uses blue-emitting Super-LumiNova throughout the dial. Thankfully, the absence of a date window continues, which leaves a perfectly symmetrical dial.
A chronometer-certified high-beat movement
The Ultra-Chron Carbon uses the Longines L.836.6 automatic caliber with a silicon hairspring. It features 52 hours of power reserve and has a high-speed 36,000vph frequency. Notably, it also carries a chronometer certification from the Geneva, Switzerland-based firm Timelab. At the laboratory, each movement undergoes 15 days of testing in various positions and temperatures to certify an accuracy tolerance of one minute per month.
Conclusions
The Ultra-Chron Carbon is available now for US$4,900 online and at authorized Longines retailers. That’s not inexpensive, but this competes with watches like the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic and the Doxa Sub 300 Carbon. Design-wise, it’s hard to deny the model’s attractiveness, and the movement is a genuine adder. Some will mention concerns over the size, but the relatively short lug-to-lug allows it to wear well on various wrists. We look forward to providing a hands-on review, but for now, let us know what you think about the brand’s latest diver!
