Longines watches have been a landmark of the industry since their brand began in 1832 in Saint-Imier. Today, the brand offers a wide variety of watches for men and women. Watches manufactured by Longines have been utilized throughout history for everything from exploration ventures to the expression of elegance.
How old is my watch? This is probably the most common question watch collectors have. Sometimes it is easy to answer, and sometimes it is impossible. The reason: There have been a lot of watch manufacturing companies that have come and gone over the years. Many have gone out of business, while others destroyed records to save space. Some companies (as with the Gruen Watch Company), even lost rocords to fire or other natural disaster. The companies are not to blame.
I am sure they had no idea that their timepieces would someday be collected. There are several ways to get an idea of when your watch was made.
You will notice that there are many numbers stamped at various locations inside and outside your watch. They all mean different things.
(See my section on to learn how to get inside your watch). With the exception of BULOVA, the numbers on the inside and outside of the CASE ITSELF are ONLY for identification purposes - they mean nothing. The number you need is the serial number stamped on the MOVEMENT (i.e the inner workings). Write this number down and compare it to the charts on this website. This will give a good idea of the manufacture date. It will NOT tell you the actual date the watch was acquired. Many watches spent years in warehouses before being sold.
Keep this in mind. In the 1930's there was a style change from highly engraved cases to smoother cleaner lines. Notice that the watches from the early 1930's still have engraved cases. By the late 1930's mens watches were more masculine. Thin tank watches became fashionable. This was made possible by the advent of square movements.
Vintage Longines Serial Code Lookup
Until then all movements were round, limiting the designs. The Bulova and Hamilton stepped cases shown here on the left are a perfect example of this. Men were preferring tank watches, however only round movements were available, therefore the case was stepped to accomodate the movement and make the watch APPEAR to be square.
Well, it's certainly an original dial and a nice watch. The case is aftermarket, probably South American. The hallmarks on the outside are the dead giveaway that it isn't a Swiss made case by Longines.
Most times, stainless watches were sent to SA, and then the dial, movement, and hands were installed into locally made solid gold cases. What makes me nearly 100% sure of this is the period correct (late 50's / 1960's) and probably original stainless steel Longines buckle. If the watch had come from Longines in Switzerland in that case, that buckle would at least be gold plated, or solid gold, in the same color as the case. Anyway, the buckle alone is worth at least $50 and probably closer to $80-$100. Nice that it has the box.
Odds are, in order of most likely to least likely, that it's powered by a 30L, 23Z, 12.68, 28x, or 370 caliber. Well, it's certainly an original dial and a nice watch. The case is aftermarket, probably South American. The hallmarks on the outside are the dead giveaway that it isn't a Swiss made case by Longines.
Most times, stainless watches were sent to SA, and then the dial, movement, and hands were installed into locally made solid gold cases. What makes me nearly 100% sure of this is the period correct (late 50's / 1960's) and probably original stainless steel Longines buckle.
If the watch had come from Longines in Switzerland in that case, that buckle would at least be gold plated, or solid gold, in the same color as the case. Anyway, the buckle alone is worth at least $50 and probably closer to $80-$100. Nice that it has the box. Odds are, in order of most likely to least likely, that it's powered by a 30L, 23Z, 12.68, 28x, or 370 caliber.
New to the forum, so a few days late. Found this site looking for more discussion of vintage Longines. I have a very similar dial to this and know of another exactly like this, both Italian-cased.
Both cased by Binda, who apparently played a similar role to Longines/Wittnauer here in the US. Got this info from Longines themselves with their excellent information service regarding their vintage watches. Will see if I can attach a pic of my watch, but since first time on forum, may have issues (I'm kind of stupid tech-wise, hence why nearly all my watches are 50-70 year old hand-winds). Mine is Stainless with a 30L inside, and the other watch was yellow 18K with a 30L. Not sure why my photos so ginormous, but amazing I actually was able to download them without crashing something on my end!