WWR #29: Longines Legend Diver with Date

Not many people know this but Longines is brand with a rich history dating back to the 19th century up to the current era.  And one of their famous stories is their pioneering pilot watch that emerged from the 1930s under the first man to fly over the atlantic ocean, Charles Lindbergh.  Then fast forward to the next few decades, embracing the quartz revolution. Well we know that story.  And up to what we see now, Longines is a brand donned by power tennis legends and an Indian Beauty.

But during the 1960s,  Longines was part of the Diving watch frenzy.  And like JLC, Hamilton, IWC, UG and Vulcain,  the brand developed a Super Compressor Dive watch.  It was called the Longines Legend diver as seen on the picture below.

Stunning watch isn't it?  Well since the past few years has been the time where we've seem numerous remakes and tributes is just about anything that happened about half a century ago, Longines, re-released the new version of this legendary diver.  Now what struck me with this watch is that compared to other tributes from the 60s, this model resembles so much from the original one that if you'd see a mint condtion 60s Legend Diver.

The new one is upgraded with a Sapphire Crystal with AR coating, screw in crowns, new movement with 28,800 bph.  Now this tribute watch has two versions, with and without date.  The one I am recommending is the with date.  Though the ultimate remake would be the no date but I just can't live without a date complication.  And it's the best distinguishing mark compared to the old one.

Here is the new legend diver after 50 years.

the no date

                                



the with date

So why this Longines compared from other super compressor dive watches around? The price is just below $2,000 USD, great tribute watch, from a trusted brand, and most of all, if the Omega that I featured last week could be a contender for the one watch to fit all, then this would be one of it's greatest challenger.  The Longines would look great under a dress or wet suit.  Young or old. Contemporary or an artist. 

Well the design might not be blendable to everyone's taste but I'm sure those with good ones will consider it.  My initial reaction to the legend diver was that of the hour hand.  I first thought it was too short, but then again, weren't hour hounds supposed to be, to be recognizable and big compare to the minute hand.  And if you were the 50s designer of the original one, there was no other way, and the design they ended up is perfect to which I would conclude.  Some designs need to grow on us.  We are not all masters of our taste.  That's what for me a good design is.  A design that not just acts as a pusher but actually teaches us and makes our way to the roots of our tastes and molds and corrects it.  And the simple dial, and inner rotating bezel, crown design, and the most common looking case, sets this to be an immortal classic, that is not that popular to the point of being unique. 

Longines usually has no defined image to their watches except for the Lindbergh hour watch which is a totally different interesting story in itself, and so with this Legend diver, I hope they carry on to this type of image with their sport/dive watch categories and forget the urge to follow the trend but rather be the trail blazer.   

WWR #22: Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military

What do you think about homages? Are they fakes? Just a copy? Well these questions are the most asked and discussed by watch collectors and enthusiasts everywhere. True nothing can beat the real deal, but sometimes it may not be as practical as you think. Especially true for vintage watches. And so my weekly watch recommendation for this week is the best homage for the most coveted and holiest of all military dive watch grails.

The watch for this week is from the German watch company Steinhart with their Ocean Vintage Military divers watch.






It is cased on a 42mm stainless steel case with a domed sapphire crystal and powered by an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement.  Aside from milsub design homage, it also has that dial with patina look on the markers and that includes the hands.  And even though these have that patina color in them, they surely glow in the dark considering that these are Superluminova.  It is also water resistant to 300 meters and is equipped with a solid stainless steel bracelet.  Replace this with a black nato strap and you have yourself the complete homage of the rare and cool Rolex MilSub.

Here are the pics of this vintage inspired beauty.

The Rolex that influenced this Steiny was the Military Submariner or named to many as the MilSub.  This watch was issued to the British Military in the 70s and only about 1200 of them was made this way.  A normal person would mistake this with a normal Rolex Submariner on a nato strap but there are so many differences in this model that makes this more unique and in demand.

 Interested, more info on the link below:

http://rolex.watchprosite.com/show-nblog.post/ti-503131/

  

The Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military Dive watch carries a price tag of around $580 to $600.  The Rolex on the other hand you can probably get about 100 to 200 times that price if it ever comes up in the bay or an auction. The price is only not the biggest plus, as the problems come with all vintage time pieces is the repair and service.  The parts are mostly scarce, and you would need to spend more to have it in tip-top condition.  The Steinhart uses an ETA movement, and is basically used in hundred thousands of watches and has a vast supply of replacement parts.  Lots of people love a patina/vintage look on their watches, but that usually is a sign that your watch is used up so those luminous markers no matter what they are made won't glow anymore, well except for this Steiny.  And lastly, the 42mm case on the Steiny is up to the style of big watches nowadays, the Milsubs are at the minimum level of case diameter.  

To conclude, nothing beats the Rolex MilSub when it comes to heritage and the respect it deserves as the real tool watch that made Rolex a good pedigree for watches.  But in the new generation today, not so many of us have lots of dough to put down on a 40 year old watch, but thanks to Steiny, we can enjoy the classic design of the historic milsub, and the reliability of a new working movement that we can use day till night, and still have surplus for dropping some dought another new watch for a growing collection.

We must thank these homages as they let our generation appreciate the history and value of the old and experience it with our generation's version....in some way.