This 1959 steel vintage Longines Conquest in almost as-new, virtually unused condition is virtually the epitome of the classic wristwatch. Studying it in detail before sitting down to write this description has been a source of pleasure and rather acted as a reminder of what is so completely irresistible about high grade vintage wristwatches in general.

In any high street, in any town in Great Britain, one can see endless numbers of very attractive, retrospectively styled watches displayed in a myriad of jewellers’ windows, these ranging in price from under a hundred pounds to pieces costing several thousand. While at the higher of these price extremes the watches will be of extremely high quality, it is very unlikely that their movements will even begin to feature the amount of detailed finishing and sheer attention to detail that was present in these flagship models produced by the grand Swiss marques in what are now considered to be the glory years of the mechanical watch industry. This is something that is so difficult to communicate adequately to those not conversant with the various finish techniques used in fine horology. There is an understandable tendency among buyers of all watches, whether vintage or modern, to purchase largely on the basis of appearance, to be primarily influenced by aesthetics rather than technical aspects. At a deeper level, the beauty of a watch like the one shown here is that its owner has acquired something that has far more than mere cosmetic appeal and is internally a superbly crafted work of art, a working sculpture if you like, as well as being a piece of high precision timekeeping machinery.

It would be impossible to find a more eye catching and attractive watch that this one, embodying as it does every aspect of the pinnacle of wristwatch design in the post-war era, yet at the same time, inside the case beats one of the most finely finished automatic movements that was built during this period. We have no doubt that, if the average buyer of a quality wristwatch bought new today was informed enough to make a meaningful comparison of the merits of a modern timepiece movement versus those inside these remarkable vintage models, he would unquestionably purchase the older collectible watches ever time.

The gleaming stainless steel watch case on this piece is almost in “new old stock” condition, with only the very faintest of marks to its surface that have occurred with very occasional careful use and can only be seen with the aid of a jeweller’s eyeglass. Aside from its exotic dial that will be mentioned shortly, the most eye catching aspect of this piece is its large size, with the watch having a width of 38mm. Longines created some oversize watches for use by allied pilots in World War II and this item, despite having a flamboyant appearance of its dial, also has an appealing rugged look, largely because of its very thick robust lugs, that rather harks back to these early aviator’s models. Longines used a variety of British and American case makers for its gold watches, largely as a tactic to avoid paying punitive levels of duty on imported gold in the country in which the watches were destined to be sold, but its stainless steel cases were almost universally produced in Switzerland. The inside of this case back is completely decorated with an engine turned, pearled pattern and is fully signed with the Longines winged emblem and company trade name, together with the case reference number 9020 1 412.

If possible, when buying any vintage watch, it always advisable to check the union between the case back and the case body for hidden pitting and corrosion. At face value, this comment might sound rather superfluous when applied to stainless steel cases, but it must be remembered that well into the 1950s, the corrosion resisting properties of stainless steel were often relatively inadequate and it was only later that technology in this area finally advanced enough to create the very resistant steel alloys with which we are accustomed today. We have always preferred where possible to buy models that were intended for UK sale, so corrosion and pitting were not as a rule particularly problems that we had to look out for. In the mid 1980s, much lucrative business was done during the first wave of “vintage wristwatch mania” by importing elderly timepieces from India, a strong market for the major Swiss brands particularly during the inter-war years, back into Europe. On these items, which had been exposed to a very harsh climate, pitting and corrosion to the hidden joints of stainless steel cases can be a very significant problem. As can be clearly seen in the photograph of the open case, both the movement and the case itself are in almost mint condition, with not even the slightest sign of incipient rust or pitting whatsoever.

An interesting point is the stamping of the inside ( the surface facing the wrist when the watch is worn) of the top left hand case lug with the reference 412, these also being the last three digits of the case reference stamped inside the case back. This is intriguing, as we can presumably assume that this was done to in some way ensure that the correct case backs were fitted to their appropriate case bodies. The reason for us being somewhat perplexed by the need to clarify this is that this particular case style, and the distinctive very deep case back that accompanies it, was only ever used on this particular Conquest model. The size of the case makes it instantly distinguishable from any other Longines housing from the same period and accordingly, there was no possibility of these case backs ever being fitted by mistake onto any other Longines model, simply because they were far too large to do so.

A typical example of the attention to detail that went into vintage Longines watches from the 1950s is the carefully inserted 18 karat gold medallion that fits down into a precision machined well in the thick case back. The fit of this medallion is absolutely perfect, with not even a hair’s thickness between it and the steel case. Even more remarkably, if this is studied carefully, we can see that the “fish among kelp” logo, the very elegant emblem that was only ever used on these large 1950s Conquest models, has been carefully coated in green enamel, but with only the head of the fish left in naked gold.

We have to ask the question, where could one possibly find such minute finishing touches, things that would perhaps only ever be spotted by in one in fifty owners, today on any watch, at any price level? And sadly, the truth of the matter is that one couldn’t do so. To use this as an example, today the medallion would, if present at all, almost certainly be glued on top of the case back rather than sunk into it, it would have a mass produced glazed acrylic coating with a maximum wear life of perhaps a decade. To believe that the tiny irregular shape of the fish’s head would be left uncovered is just nostalgic wishful thinking.

These 1950s watches were built in a golden era where there was intense competition between the top Swiss manufacturers and this pressured environment led the creation of some exceptionally fine cases, dials and movements as each company tried to outshine the others. One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning a really fine example of a vintage watch from this period is that, rather like re-reading a good book and appreciating things in it that went unnoticed with the first acquaintance, tiny pleasing points and design features keep catching the eye that were not immediately obvious with earlier viewings.

The preceding sentence could not be more appropriate in the context of this very evocative two-tone dial. This is in extremely good condition, with its overall colour mellowed by age from a once stark silver to a now light brown shade. Again, rather than just judging this item on its gorgeous appearance, it is worth stopping to consider the various processes that were involved in its creation. The metal dial itself has been carefully, very lightly, engine turned in a lathe to produce a significant ring of polished metal running through the batons that has entirely different reflective properties to the slightly matt finish of the rest of the dial, thus giving the two tone effect mentioned earlier.

After the bare dial was finished as detailed above, the “Longines Conquest Automatic, Swiss Made” wording was printed, something that required a considerable amount of precision, but not in itself a task that was enormously time consuming. After this had been completed, luminous paint was applied to the 12, 3, 6 and 9 marker points around the dial by hand with a very fine brush. An interesting, and very unpalatable, historical point of note here is that in the 1920s and early ‘30s, the ladies in the Swiss factories that were subcontracted to produce this detailed dial finishing for the major houses had a habit of forming the tips of their brushes into a fine point by putting them in their mouths. Sadly, at this time, the carcinogenic properties of radioactive materials were not yet fully understood and, after prolonged intake of radium paint in this way, unfortunately, a significant percentage of these highly skilled individuals contracted cancer in the following decades.

After the dial had been polished, engine turned, printed and had its luminosity hand applied, the final touch was the individual fitting of the elaborate art deco styled chromed markers at each hour position. In proportion to the huge dial on this watch, these are very large items and each baton has been carefully polished by hand prior to fitting. Notice that these are not flat batons, with a straightforward plain surface, but are faceted and it must have taken a considerable amount of time to finish to this standard. If we add up all the processes mentioned above, it is quite realistic to assume that every one of these dials required an aggregated total of several hours of a craftsman’s time to create. In an age when modern dials are stamped out by the hundred thousand and decorated in literally a few seconds by computer-controlled machinery, this elaborate hand finished example has enormous character and visual impact.

Every individual component on this watch, both internal and external, is original and the piece has no changed parts whatsoever. Even the broad chromed hands and Longines signed winding crown are completely standard and unmolested. This is a very important consideration when buying any expensive vintage watch, not only because a piece which is not entirely original will prove to be a far weaker investment than a premium quality example, but also because, in terms of reliability and accurate timekeeping, the fitting of non standard components can have serious negative ramifications. These 1950s Conquests are both rare and sought after now, inevitably attracting the attention of experienced buyers who have considerable knowledge of vintage Longines watches. Such collectors are, quite rightly, very critical, and accordingly, a watch like this one, that is correct in every way, will be potentially far easier to liquidate in the future for a very high price than a shabby example with a somewhat questionable specification. It would be quite a challenge to find any vintage watch for sale from the ‘50s in more authentic, totally original condition than this one. We would go so far as to say that, other than for the gentle aging to its dial, the piece is almost exactly as it was at the time when it left the jeweller’s shop in the delighted hands of its first owner half a century ago.

The movement in this watch is the much sought after calibre 290 automatic, one of the most beautifully finished of all post-war mechanical movements. This is a double signed item “Longines, 24 Jewels, Swiss” being on the mirror polished bridge and “Longines, Automatic” having been stamped into the rotor and this lettering then filled with 18 karat gold to make it more legible. The serial number 11247169 is also present on the bridge, clearly indicating a production year of 1959. We have deliberately included a very close up photograph of this movement in order that its spectacular finish can be seen.

The 290 was an entirely “manufacture” made movement, built in-house by Longines with no externally sourced parts. This point is a vital one for the serious collector and cannot be stressed enough here. Only a small handful of wristwatch brands have ever been capable of producing their own movements from scratch, Longines being one of them. This is something that the industry as a whole has always been reluctant to dwell upon and indeed, as a result, the knowledge of which brands make their own movements is very well shielded from the general luxury watch buying public even today. The majority of watch houses, even back in the 1950s and even at the highest level, had a policy of buying in “ebauches” or movement blanks ( this term refers to the movement in its most basic form, without balance wheel, jewels, gearing or any added component) and refinishing them as required, making sure that their prestigious company logo was added where necessary.

The by-product of this situation is that those few brands that were capable of complete independence are now very much placed on a pedestal by those with a serious interest in vintage watches. It would be erroneous to suggest that movements built around ebauches are of a lower quality or in anyway technically inferior to those built in-house, but it is undeniably the case that creations like this one that were entirely the products of the inventive minds of the Longines design department, do have an integrity that can never be matched by the more homogenised movement calibres of lesser brands.

The spectacular 290 was launched amid a fanfare of publicity in the horological trade press in 1958, a year before the Conquest for sale here was manufactured, and received very enthusiastic reviews. Fascinatingly, half the movement, that section concerned with timekeeping rather than automatic winding, had been in production since 1936 as Longines calibre 8.68. The 290 was built entirely in two separate parts, the movement itself and the rotor winding module that was attached by two large blued screws to the base calibre below ( these were deliberately finished in a different colour to the mirror polished screws used on the movement elsewhere to enable a repairer to instantly identify them when routine lubrication and servicing was required). The automatic module can actually be completely detached from the time keeping mechanism ( and indeed is done so during servicing), without in any way affecting the performance of the watch as a timepiece. The ingenuity of the engineers who created the 290 is outstanding, that they had the technical ability to continue to use the 8.68, arguably the most famous Longines hand wound movement of all time, and graft onto this, without modifying its structure significantly, a beautifully built automatic rotor winding mechanism to create a entirely new, multiple award winning, calibre. The logic behind the development of this movement is faultless; that a very reliable, extremely high precision calibre that the company was already tooled up to produce should form the basis of a new automatic movement, but the practical talent of the minds that designed and built this rotor module to work so seamlessly with the older hand wound calibre, is worthy of our admiration.

This particular movement, in keeping with the rest of the watch, is in gleaming condition and is effectively “as new”. There is not even the slightest hint of wear or discolouration on any of the visible surfaces or gears. Having been serviced regularly since new regardless of expense, the watch works perfectly today. There is no reason whatsoever why an all mechanical movement of this quality, if carefully looked after and serviced on a regular basis, should not be working perfectly a century or more from now. These watches were built as timepieces for life and a reason for the ever increasing popularity of vintage wristwatch collecting as a hobby today is the realisation that items like this one are not only a superb investment, but also very satisfying assets to own that can be passed on for future generations to enjoy.

We have fitted the watch with a very high quality brown crocodile skin type strap. This is not an original Longines item, but is in perfect condition having never been worn. The appearance of this strap is very much in keeping with the rugged, upmarket appearance of the watch and is almost identical to the one supplied with it by Longines when new.

In summary, this large Longines Conquest from 1959 is a delightful item that can hold its own with any Rolex Oyster Perpetual or Omega Seamaster from the same era. With the exception of some slight yellowing of its dial, its condition is as near to brand new as one could ever possibly hope to find and its quality is breathtaking in the extreme. The value of the watch is very difficult to actually quantify, simply because we have not seen another steel vintage Conquest in comparable condition for sale in the last three or four years.

Two steel Longines Conquest models were sold as Lots 179 and 181 in the 28 November 1994 sale “Longines, Legendary Watches” held in the Grand Hotel de Milan by Antiquorum, the specialist horological auctioneers. Both had the same cases as the watch here, but their dials were less attractive than this art deco variant. They were described as “fine”.

John Goldberger’s book “Longines Watches” devotes four full colour pages (p.290 to 293) to close up shots of two mid-1950s steel Conquest models. One of these photographs depicts the enamelled fish medallion that is present on the piece for sale here, though Goldberger’s watch is in noticeably poorer condition.

In the superb reference book “Longines” by Daria Marozzi, a very respected marque enthusiast and fanatical collector, a steel 1954 vintage Longines Conquest is pictured in full colour on page 309 with the statement that, to quote the book verbatim, this “beautiful 1950’s Conquest model” is worth approximately £550 pounds ( this price is approximate as the figure in quoted in the book in Italian Lire). However, this tome was published over twenty years ago in 1990, and prices for vintage watches in general, and particularly for large waterproof models like this one, have certainly trebled within this time frame, giving us a worth of £1500 GB pounds today, which is probably a reasonably accurate value for this item if it was entered into a suitable vintage Longines thematic sale by one of the major London auction houses.

Largely because we don’t have to pay the high commission fees due when selling through Christie’s, Sotheby’s or Bonhams, we can usually undercut physical sale prices quite substantially on our website and still make a worthwhile profit. Keeping prices low works well for us because we turn over stock rapidly and we keep customers happy and eager to buy again. We have priced this watch at £1025 GB pounds, which makes it a very affordable way of adding an extremely high grade 1950s automatic Longines to one’s collection.