Get this: 190 years is a long time to be in business. This year, the Swiss watchmaker Longines is hitting that momentous mark and celebrating its history and heritage with pride. The brand even has bragging rights to say that its winged hourglass logo is the oldest registered trademark with the World Intellectual Property Organization. It's gone through tweaks and revisions in the nearly two centuries since it was put in use, but it's as recognisable today as it ever was.
On the occasion of its 190th anniversary, the brand has issued three special editions from its classically-styled Longines Master Collection. This core collection of the Swiss brand, launched in 2005, is dedicated to the company's heritage and expertise in traditional watchmaking. As one of the oldest watch brands around, Longines can boast an authentic history of horological breakthroughs and advancements—facts and achievements of the past distilled into enduring designs for the present.
The pieces from this anniversary collection are decidedly handsome, with delicately engraved Arabic numerals on grained anthracite, brushed grey and sandblasted silver dials; pink, gilt and blued steel hands in the leaf-shaped feuille style; round, 40mm cases in 18K yellow and rose gold and stainless steel; and soft, anthracite-grey alligator leather straps.
These timepieces, the gold versions of which are limited to 190 numbered editions each, are outfitted with an in-house Longines movement and a transparent caseback that features a commemorative engraving. Entirely (ahem) timeless in style, count these designs as proof that good taste endures.
The Longines Master Collection 190th Anniversary is available now in the brand's boutiques.
A version of this story was first published in the November 2022 issue of Esquire Singapore.
