Inspired, affordable, and rooted in the classicism of the best-selling Master collection, Longines' new '190th-anniversary' edition is the sort of product you'd expect Mad Men protagonist Don Draper to describe as 'simple, but significant'. Naturally, it helps that this dress watch feels like a beneficiary of those all-time great design codes first laid down in the middle of the 20th century: endowing collectors with something that feels streamlined, elegant and above all else, wearable.
If we were to reduce the 190th Anniversary to a single talking point, that would most likely pivot around the Longines watch's dial. Deeply etched with sinuous numeric indices, the visual effect is one of hand-engraving - a technique that is, increasingly, a rarity among contemporary watch brands at any price point.
Likewise, the ETA movement powering the watch seems, at least initially, like 'business as usual'; but scratch a little deeper, and you'll find a level of performance that's comfortably in the ballpark of mechanical watchmaking two to three times more expensive - par for the course when one remembers that Longines' parent is Swatch Group.
Ultimately, for dress watch enthusiasts, it's going to be the 190th Anniversary's engraved dial that serves as the initial lure. Longines' signature 40mm stainless steel case (identical to what you'll find in the regular Master lineup) functions as an effective springboard: so much so that the majority of the watch's mirror-polished surfaces are restricted to the lugs and bezel.
That deceptively perfunctory design choice proves impactful, as it encourages wearers to linger just a little bit longer on the dial - a striking execution combining contemporary finishing with intelligent spatial awareness, all in service of a watch that flatters at seemingly any distance.
Of course, the 190th Anniversary's on-wrist charisma may largely be attributed to the dial's engraved numerals. Longines has been transparent about the fact that these are the product of laser, as opposed to hand-engraving: but here, the quality of that industrial process's application is so expert that it's easy to distinguish each index from its surroundings - thanks to depth, sharpness and clarity of shape.
Contrasted with the attendant dial's finely granular finish and a set of blued hour, minute and seconds hands, Longines' latest both looks and feels the part of a classic, notionally vintage-inspired mechanical Swiss watch. Any doubt about that is put to rest when you hop over to the caseback, offering an unencumbered view of the calibre L888.5 - the Longines-fied take on ETA's thin, self-winding A31 movement.
As mentioned earlier in this article, there's a lot more going on with the calibre L888.5 than a mere copy-paste job. Made exclusively for the brand by ETA, this self-winding movement incorporates a number of technologies that are present in other brands across the Swatch Group portfolio.
That's especially apparent when it comes to the L888.5's regulating organ: unlike its true ETA-branded counterpart, a superior amagnetic silicon hairspring is used; and the balance wheel is free-sprung (as opposed to index-regulated). The latter construction is frequently associated with high-end watchmaking, as it requires small timing screws to be fitted to the balance wheel's rim (you can see them in the images below) and then loosened/tightened in accordance with inertia. The payoff? A watch which runs smoothly, whether rotated on the wrist or laid flat in a safe; and one that's energy-efficient enough to operate 72 hours straight, if you decide to go sans wristwear over the weekend.
Ultimately, one doesn't need to be a card-carrying member of the WCA to understand the new Master Collection 190th Anniversary's appeal. Longines has done a commendable job of bringing together various classical watchmaking and decorating elements - all in a format that will flatter most men's wrists, packed with just the right arsenal of modern tech that makes this less of an occasional design and more of a constant companion.
