longines l3.650.4

Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph Record (Ref. L4.754.4.52/72.X)The new Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph Record automatic watch comes equipped with a strange-looking direct-drive second hand with a vernier scale that mimics the same device installed on a 1966 Longines chrono.Frankly speaking, I failed to grasp the idea behind this device, but, at least, the vernier scale makes the second hand more entertaining to look at.Painted bright red, the awkward-looking hand is matched with a 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock that features a rim of the same color.The watch is powered by the caliber L688.2 automatic chronograph movement aka ETA A08.231.Developed by ETA S.A. exclusively for Longines, the device was first announced in March 2009 and also powers the other members of their elegant Column-Wheel Chronograph series.Naturally, the new CWC Record features the same dial layout with the small seconds indicator at 9 o’clock and a 12-hour totalizer at 6 o’clock. The small date window is placed between 4 and 5 o’clock.However, while the other members of the family were more of a dressy kind, this particular model just screams “sports” or, rather, “sports utility” since you will be able to wear it both with jeans and a polo shirt as well as with a formal suit.Its black dial provides a perfect background for the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands that feature tine patches of Superluminova luminescent substance on their tips.To make the watch even easier to read at nights, the Swiss watchmaker has also applied nine more dots of green lume in 5-minute intervals.Well, this is a very nice watch. If Longines manages to keep the price below €3500, it may well become a bestseller.

In 1947 France instigated a series of exploratory missions to the Arctic and Antarctica under the leadership of a renowned scientist, Paul-Emile Victor. These expeditions brought together geologists, geodesists, meteorologists, physicists, biologists, geographers and glaciologists all were aiming to explore, study and understand the North and South Poles. The mass of equipment required by the first Paul-Emile Victor missions for exploring these inhospitable regions included four Longines ship's chronometers and fifteen Longines wristwatches which were used for determining their astronomical position. In honour of these exploratory missions the Swiss watchmaker has re-issued the time-piece used by the scientists on the Exp��ditions Polaires Fran?aises �C Missions Paul-Emile Victor to explore Greenland and the Ad��lie Coast. The Longines Exp��ditions Polaires Fran?aises �C Missions Paul-Emile Victor watch is an almost exact replica of the instrument that the scientists took with them on their polar expeditions in the 1940's. The engraving on the back cover recalls the two opposite destinations of the polar expeditions which would go down in history: the Arctic and Greenland, and the Antarctic and the Adelie Coast. The original Longines model worn by the members of the Exp��ditions Polaires Fran?aises �C Missions Paul-Emile Victor was a stainless steel wrist-watch with a centre seconds hand. This feature was not common in the 1940s but apparently met the team's requirements as to its legibility, enhanced by the use of a luminous coating on the indices, the numerals and the hands. The Longines 12.68N caliber used in this watch also featured a shock-absorber system. Specifications of the Re-Issue Reference L2.732.4.76.X Stainless steel case measuring 38.5mm with an AR-coated sapphire crystal and water resistance to 30 meters. The dial is silvered, with blued steel hands covered in Superluminova. Movement is the Swiss automatic Longines caliber L619 (base ETA 2892-A2) with 21 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 42 hours. Strap is available in black leather or brown alligator with steel buckle.