Exploring the Heritage Collection: Passing on Longines' History to the Present (Part 1)

Longines, a prestigious brand based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, is known for its Heritage Collection, which draws on the extensive archives it has cultivated over its long history. This two-part article looks back at Longines' efforts to produce high-quality reproduction models, which date back to long before the current vintage watch boom.

The rich Longines Heritage collection

　While trends come and go in the watch industry, the trend toward nostalgia is stronger than ever. Driven by the growth of the secondary market and the high standards of watch auctions, the revival of vintage timepieces from the early to mid-20th century has become increasingly prominent in the industry over the past decade.

　While most brands are digging into their history to find ideas for retro designs that appeal to today's customers, one brand has long appealed to vintage-loving customers and offered a wide range of styles: Longines, a rare brand that traces its history back to 1832 and launched a vintage revival in the 1980s.

　In 2019, the watch industry celebrated its half-century with a flamboyant ceremony, including the Tag Heuer Monaco, the Zenith El Primero, and the first quartz watch. In contrast, Longines held a rather subdued ceremony, marking 50 years since former CEO Walter von Känel joined the company.

　Although the company is still based in Saint-Imier, the city where the company was founded, von Känel became CEO of Longines in 1988. It's impossible to succeed as a CEO in the highly competitive luxury watch industry without knowing exactly what customers want and, at times, how to convince them. "There was a change in the direction of the company in the 1970s," von Känel, who retired in June 2020, said in a rare interview at the Longines office in 2019.

　He also said, "At the time, Longines' motto was technology first. We would often say, 'We make what we want to make, and your job is to sell it.' The sales department changed this attitude, and the company philosophy shifted to, 'We identify what the market wants, and the company makes it.' I think this was a good move overall." This change in corporate culture, to adapt to market demands, was a necessary decision for Longines, a company with a long history, to survive amidst the offensive of quartz watches from the Far East, which was defeating powerful Swiss manufacturers one after another.

Pioneer: The Hour Angle Watch that Brought the Heritage Collection to Life

　The now-signature Longines Heritage Collection began with an unusual presentation to von Känel in 1987. This was long before the trend of retro looks and vintage-inspired watches of recent years, and before Swiss mechanical watches emerged from the quartz crisis and became a successful genre.

　The year 1987 marks the 60th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's successful nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. The aircraft used on that flight was the Spirit of St. Louis, and Longines was the official timekeeper for the World Air Sports Federation.

　During this time, Lindbergh also collaborated with Longines to create a historically significant timepiece: the Hour Angle Watch, released in 1931. In the days before GPS, pilots and navigators needed to measure longitude during long-distance flights. The Hour Angle Watch, with its revolutionary rotating bezel, made this possible, allowing pilots to quickly and accurately determine their geographical location and pinpoint their destination.

　To commemorate the 60th anniversary, von Känel decided to reissue the Hour Angle watch. The model proved a surprise hit, even for von Känel. This paved the way for the reissue of many more models from Longines' extensive and well-organized archives.

"Avigation" watch that makes use of the archives of aviation watches

With the Lindbergh Hour Angle watch proving to be a pilot's watch that combines historical context with modern appeal, another reissue model joins the equally contemporary lineup: the Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch.

　This prompted Longines to begin unearthing timepieces from its museum collection, many of which were models produced for military use during World War I and World War II.

　Longines manufactured dashboard clocks and chronographs for early aircraft cockpits, a legacy that led to the creation of pilot's wristwatches in the 1920s. The Longines Avigation Type A-7's slanted, retro design is derived from a model developed for U.S. Air Force pilots in the 1930s. The military at the time (long before the Air Force became an independent branch) set very strict standards for precision, quality, and legibility, and watches had to meet these requirements before they could be adopted for military use.

　The watch that met these requirements was a model called the "Type A-7." The first modern version of the Type A-7, released in 2012 to commemorate Longines' 180th anniversary, featured a dial tilted 40 degrees to the right, allowing pilots who wore the watch on the inside of their wrists to read it quickly and easily. (The word "Avigation" comes from the combination of "aviation" and "navigation.")

　The dial is angled so that it aligns with the aircraft's instruments, allowing pilots to read the time without moving their arms or letting go of the control stick. The initial reissue featured a striking 49mm steel case. It featured a large, knurled crown, which pilots could easily operate while wearing gloves, and the caliber L788, a monopusher chronograph movement with a push-piece integrated into the crown. Following the initial black dial model was the Longines Avigation Type A-7 1935, featuring a white lacquer dial. It featured stenciled hour markers with a honey-colored gloss finish, antiqued for a more retro look, and skeletonized, pear-shaped hands. The case diameter was also increased to 41mm.

　Longines also revived an aviation watch called the Big Eye model in 2017. Inspired by watches made in the 1930s, the Longines Avigation Big Eye features a semi-matte black dial with luminous Arabic numerals and a particularly large 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock, hence the name "Big Eye." The dial features a 12-hour counter at 6 o'clock and a small seconds at 9 o'clock, in a more traditional two-pusher chronograph layout. The movement is the Caliber L688, a modified version of the Caliber ETA A08.L01 made specifically for Longines.