Brand Watches

Longines Watch

There are two things that come to our minds when we think about Longines. One, the brand’s popular tagline – ‘Elegance is an attitude’; two, its equally famous ambassador and Bollywood actress – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Longines has been one of Swatch Group’s most successful brands that cleared the 30-million sales mark in 2001 – a feat which can be matched only by a few.

But the history of the brand and its attempts at reinvent itself are quite fascinating. Here is the brand’s amazing journey to stardom.

Click here to read the whole history of Longines.

The Antiquorum Fall 2008 auction “Important Collectors Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks” took place yesterday, marked by feverish Internet bidding and a remarkable sale total of $9,892,812.  After the dust had settled, a number of records had been set, most notable among these being from the sale of a gold Longines wristwatch once owned by celebrated physicist Albert Einstein.

The antique Longines watch, dating from 1931 and engraved with Einstein’s name sold for $596,000, a figure which exceeded its pre-sale estimate by a staggering 2,000 percent.  The sale represents a landmark for both Longines and watch auction history in general; it is both the highest price ever realized for a Longines watch, and the highest figure obtained for a simple time-only wristwatch.

Regarding the Einstein Longines watch sale, Julian Schaerer, Antiquorum USA’s Watch Expert & Auctioneer said, “We’re delighted to see such an excellent outcome for our first auction of the season. In particular, we’re excited by the exceptional result achieved by the Longines wristwatch that belonged to the Time Magazine Man of the Century-the world’s most noteworthy physicist, Nobel Prize winning scientist, Albert Einstein.”

“The results from today’s auction are confirmation that despite the current erratic economic climate, important timepieces continue to be extremely sought after, highly collectible, and sound tangible investments that have consistently proven to appreciate exponentially over time,” stated Robert Maron, the newly appointed chairman of Antiquorum.

Click here to read to full press release.

The new Longines Conquest watch collection is targeted at the sportsmen and women who want to achieve performance without sacrificing elegance. At least that’s what the company says.

The fact is, these watches are a little weird. They’re made of a combination of stainless steel and ceramic, all put together in a really ‘elegant’ way, not too flashy but definitely not unnoticeable.

I can’t say they aren’t looking good, but they are simply too simple form y tastes. I don’t see anything that makes them stand out in any way.

The part that worries me most is the ceramic. I’ve nothing against it, but in any sport, you have sudden moves, accidents, unexpected turns that may shatter ceramic. On any other watch, I would understand it, but on a sports watch, that’s a little too out there.

However, the official specification are promising. The watches resist up a 300m depth, have lateral protection for the crown and a triple folding safety clasp.

We’ll see how successful this line of watches will be.