Horologii

Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch Review

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of its Flagship collection, Longines have released the Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition watch, a breathtaking design available in steel, rose gold and yellow gold. Longines are no stranger to reaching back into their archives to take inspiration from older models, Their Longines 1918 watch that was released last year – albeit a very different kind of watch – also celebrated the brand’s history and proved that Longines were beginning to nail vintage inspired timepieces.

And yet despite being a watch inspired by another design the new Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition watch is a breath of fresh air. They have sensibly chosen not to clutter the dial with any date window and the 38.5mm case size is going to suit the majority of us and provide a subtle boldness without becoming unnecessarily large.

The first Longines Flagship watch was sold in 1957 and has since served as a go to collection for men looking for both a sophisticated and high quality Swiss watch. The Flagship watch collection owes its name to the ship which boasted the flag of the fleet’s commander in chief, a subtle symbol of Longines own wishes for their timepieces that is further cemented through a caravel engraving on the case back of all Flagship watches. Interestingly, the design of this Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition watch was chosen personally by brand ambassador Kate Winslet during her visit to the Longines factory in St. Imier. So I guess we have the Oscar winning British actress to thank for this handsome trio of timepieces.

It’s two toned dial really brings to light the detail that has gone into the classic design, as the outer ring is silvered and boasts intricate concentric detailing while the innermost part has been decorated in a subtle off-white colour. The designers have also gone for applied Arabic numerals at twelve, three, six and nine and filled the blanks in with sleek multi faceted indices that match the colour of the gold case or contrast to the steel. A seconds dial is also neatly positioned at six o clock providing much needed balance to the logo at twelve o clock and a brown leather strap is added to complete the vintage finish.

The Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition watch is expected to be released towards the end of April this year, so thankfully we don’t have much longer to wait! But since were talking about a limited edition model here, with the steel being limited to 1957 pieces and both gold variations being limited to 60 pieces, we would still highly recommend pre-ordering them in advance to ensure you get your hands on one. You can pre-order yours here.

Specifications: Longines Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch (L4.817.8.76.2L4.817.6.76.2L4.817.4.76.2)

  • Price: Steel £1,390 / Gold £5,470
  • Limited Edition: Steel 1957 pieces / Gold 60 pieces
  • Case size: 38.5mm
  • Case material: Available in stainless steel, 18 carat rose gold or 18 carat yellow gold
  • Glass: Sapphire crystal
  • Movement: L609 mechanical calibre
  • Dial: White/silver
  • Strap: Brown leather
  • Release Date: April 2017