I was recently given a book, "The Watch" by Gene Stone. In it, he lists the "top 50" watch brands. Among the watch brands missing is Longines. I own a Longines Evidenza Chronograph - it is one of my favorites. Is this considered a quality watch? Is Longines considered one of the top brands? I was under the impression (prior to reading this book) that it was. Please let me know your thoughts.
Longines - Quality Watch?
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stuffler,mike
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Well, yes and no.
Depends what your definition of a top brand is. If you´d agree that Blancpain, Breguet, Ulysee Nardin, Lange & Söhne, Glashütte, Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, Richard Mille, Chopard, Cartier, Hatot, Graham, Jaeger le Coultre are haute horologerie then Longines doesn´t belong to the top brands.
I´d rate Longines watches to be placed in the upper mid range (like Rado and Mido) which imho fits perfectly into the Swatch Group philosophy.
What "haute horologerie" is about is to be read here: http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/ . This site is worth a visit, so take your time.
Depends what your definition of a top brand is. If you´d agree that Blancpain, Breguet, Ulysee Nardin, Lange & Söhne, Glashütte, Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, Richard Mille, Chopard, Cartier, Hatot, Graham, Jaeger le Coultre are haute horologerie then Longines doesn´t belong to the top brands.
I´d rate Longines watches to be placed in the upper mid range (like Rado and Mido) which imho fits perfectly into the Swatch Group philosophy.
What "haute horologerie" is about is to be read here: http://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/ . This site is worth a visit, so take your time.
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:-S Rado and Mido!
Surely the Longines Evidenza Chrono is a quality watch.
I agree with Mike about the positioning of Longines in market: the brand has to be considered in the upper mid range now, even if developed and produced in the past some top level timepieces (chrono calibres 13 series, 19 series and 30 series are still to be considered among the best in-house chrono calibres).
Unfortunately came the quartz movement era (second-half of '70s) and Longines suffered a great crisis :-( that brought the company to be bought by Swatch Group which tried to re-launch the brand, even if almost all in-house calibres had been replaced by ETA ones :-| ...
In my opinion Longines is one of the more unappreciated brand on market.
It has a long history and tradition (many times Longines timekeeping was the official one for Olympics and for F1 and many human enterprises - Lindbergh's solo flights across the Atlantic Ocean, "Italia" airship expedition over North Pole and so on - had been performed by the help of Longines watches and chronos).
If you want some more information on Longine's past models have a look to this site: http://www.timewatches.us/Longines/e/
It is one of the best sources available on the web about Longines.
My hope is that marketing departments will wake up and will restore this brand to his proper position in the market (comparable with Omega, at least).
I spend my waiting enjoying some nice past Longines I'm so lucky to have. ;-)
Regards.
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Longines compare favourably to Baume & Mercier, where Longines has the edge in value.
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Adding to Watchbreath's post: And imho the design of Longines is much better. Could easily find something I like from their range, have difficulties with the range of Baume et Mercier.
has the edge in value.
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Putting back the "et" would be a great touch.
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Agreed with Rouge, Longines was something special before the 70's and hayek-eta era. Vintage Longines are very interesting models.
I had the same impression about Longines' movements but I'm sorry to say my fascination with Longines watches quality has been shattered. My Longines broke down in its second year and after going through the trouble of sending it over to Geneva for repair it broke down again after only 6 months of use. I do not lead an overly active lifestyle or subject the watch to harsh conditions. Now I'm working on throwing (read: shipping) it back one way with a "thanks, but no thanks!" note.
So, I think Longines has been dropped from your book for a reason!
So, I think Longines has been dropped from your book for a reason!
This is why I like vintage watches manufactured before the 70s quartz crises. I have a vintage gold Longines that is outstanding and highly accurate. So many companies just collapsed in the 70s and were bought out. Like so many things today, huge companies control these 'labels' and share many parts and processes and subcontractors. Sort of makes most brands pretty similar - like most things in our modern world where just a handful of giant corporations appear to be different through the power of marketing alone.
As Mike said, there still remains the top manufactures in the upper echelon - I would say that the very top companies are either still family owned (Patek), or control the ENTIRE manufacturing process including their own exclusive movements. Outside of that, they are all starting to look the same to me.
As Mike said, there still remains the top manufactures in the upper echelon - I would say that the very top companies are either still family owned (Patek), or control the ENTIRE manufacturing process including their own exclusive movements. Outside of that, they are all starting to look the same to me.
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stuffler,mike
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Welcome to Watchuseek and welcome to the Public Forum. I read all your 3 posts you posted within the last 40 Min, wouldn`t you think that one post would have done it. Keep in mind that most of the members flick through most of the threads and it is not really "refreshing" to see you complaining Longines`quality.
Longines` mechanical line offers a good price performance ratio. My Record-Longines works flawless since almost 35 years. You had bad luck, that's all.
Longines` mechanical line offers a good price performance ratio. My Record-Longines works flawless since almost 35 years. You had bad luck, that's all.
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Well put, Enzotemko. There are many brands that went under in the 1970's and it can be confusing to compare a current brand's offerings with what they were producing prior to being bought out. We can lump a whole lot of brands under this period and many of them came out worse for wear - look at Invicta before and Invicta now under Lalo. Or Jules Jurgensen then and Jules Jurgensen now. If anything I think Longines has done admirably well in the Swatch Group under Walter von Känel and they've even recently introduced a brand new retrograde DD / retrograde GMT model using a proprietary calibre manufactured with help from ETA in their Master Collection. I don't know too many mid-line companies coming out with attractive watches sporting in-house calibres that are this reasonably priced - slap a PP badge on it and look to spend at least 10X that.
begotten from the web:
OT inquiry to wbakr: Did you resurrect a 3-year old thread for some sharing of information re: Longines or just to rant about a perceived slight? We all understand the pain of having to deal with a misbehaving watch, but it's unfair to throw the whole brand and its legacy under the bus for a specific problem with one watch. That said, sorry to hear of that issue.
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Really?
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I had no idea Cartier can be considered to be a top tier manufacturer. Don't they just rebody other people's movements in fancy cases?
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stuffler,mike
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Well, a lot of people think the same way you do.
BUT
Some time ago Cartier entered the stage of a manufacturer, the search function could be of some help to you ;-)
Mid 2008 iirc Cartier joined the cadre of watch manufacturers that can display the Geneva Seal distinction on some of its timepieces.
That seal was created by the Geneva watch-making guild in 1886 to define and protect the quality of its products.
To obtain the seal, a watch must meet 12 criteria governing its construction and appearance; the movement must be mechanical and have been assembled and adjusted in the Canton of Geneva; and must have obtained official designation from the Bureau de Controle Facultatif des Montres.
The "Ballon bleu de Cartier Flying Tourbillon" was the first watch to get the Geneva Seal.
The 19 jewels 9452 MC is an inhouse crafted high end timepiece consisting of 142 parts. With a diameter of 10 and ¾ lines, it beats at the rate of 21.600 vib/h and provides a pr of about 50 hours.
Technical specifications (according to MC):
Case in 18 carat pink gold
Diameter: 46 mm,
Circular-grained crown in 18 carat pink gold set with a sapphire cabochon,
Sapphire crystal,
Transparent case-back with sapphire crystal,
Galvanic, slate-coloured guilloché dial, sun-ray open-worked grid with Roman numerals.
Sword-shaped, blued-steel hands,
Brown alligator-skin strap with dual adjustment folding clasp in 18 carat pink gold,
Mechanical movement with manual winding, 9452 MC calibre, bearing the Geneva Seal,
Flying Tourbillon with its C-shaped index indicating the seconds, diameter: 10 and ¾ lines,
Depth: 4.5 mm,
Number of jewels: 19,
Balance: 21,600 vibrations per hour.
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on a personal level i prefer Longines to some of those "haute horologie" makes which have appeal more to Jewelry than to the appreciation of mechanical watches...
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I am suspect of a site like Hautehorology where all the brands are Swiss.
As far as I can tell, Seiko, Citizen and Orient all have watchmaking skills that match and beat the best Europe has to offer....
As far as I can tell, Seiko, Citizen and Orient all have watchmaking skills that match and beat the best Europe has to offer....
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:-d There're not many that don't and Cartier has some real nice cases.
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