With 3 New Dials, the Longines Legend Continues
Longines & SHARP
The 1959 Longines ref. 7042 was a cutting-edge diver’s watch with a two-piece 42 mm case, a screw-down case back, and — for the first time — an internal bidirectional rotating bezel graduated over 60 minutes. Water-resistant to 120 m and equipped with a self‐winding mechanical Longines movement, the watch combined the latest advances in underwater timekeeping with a distinctive mid-century modern look. More than 60 years later, the looks and functionality of the Ref. 7042 remain just as appealing in its successor, the Longines Legend Diver. A vintage-inspired watch with a host of modern advancements inside and out, the Legend Diver has won over countless fans who appreciate its blend of aesthetics and reliability. This season it stands to win over quite a few more, thanks to the reveal of a trio of new models with a Goldilocks-sized 39 mm case and a selection of new dials in green, terracotta, and anthracite grey.
The Longines Legend Diver collection, which was reintroduced in 2007, currently consists of more than 20 variants across three case sizes. These range from the unisex 36 mm model with a selection of coloured gradient dials, to a larger 42 mm version that’s available with a choice of stainless steel or bronze cases. Longines, a luxury watchmaker based in St. Imier, Switzerland since 1832, is known for the breadth of its catalogue as well as its range of archival re-editions inspired by the golden era of mid-20th-century watchmaking. With their new case size, new dial colours, and old-school aesthetics, the newest Longines Legend Divers play to the brand’s strengths in all the right ways.
The form of the new Longines Legend Diver pays homage to the 1959 Ref. 7042, but it’s part of a legacy stretching back much further. Longines began producing its first water-resistant watches in the 1910s, and in 1936 it introduced the first internal rotating bezel. External rotating bezels were a crucial timing tool for divers and other professionals, but they were prone to being accidentally knocked out of alignment. The internal rotating bezel solved this problem — one that could prove fatal for a diver — by placing the rotating bezel under glass and making it adjustable via a locking crown. In the 1940s, Longines used its expertise with waterproof timepieces to help the UK Hydrographic Office design a watch for Royal Navy divers.
A decade later in 1958, as scuba diving became increasingly popular among civilians, the brand introduced its first consumer dive watch, the Nautilus Skin Diver. The Nautilus Skin Diver was water-resistant to 120 m, but by the mid-1960s, Longines had increased the water resistance of its diver’s watches to 200 m. A decade later, it would raise the bar further to 300 m with a special diver’s watch created for Royal Australian Navy divers. The newest Legend Diver builds on this legacy of everincreasing technical performance with a 39 mm case that’s rated water-resistant to 300 m, putting it in line with the current ISO 6425 standard for diver’s watches. Its automatic Longines calibre L888.6 is chronometer-certified by COSC (the Swiss standard for accuracy and reliability) and includes components like a silicon balance spring that contribute to 10 times greater magnetic resistance than the ISO 764 reference standard.
Despite its modern performance, vintage-inspired touches such as the lack of a date window, the stainless steel “beads of rice” bracelet, and a case back embossed with the image of a 1950s-style scuba diver, complete with fishing spear, keep it firmly in touch with its roots. Refined features like the vintage-style domed sapphire crystal, raised Arabic numerals coated with Super-LumiNova, and rhodium-plated arrow hands, meanwhile, give it a polished look befitting of a Swiss luxury timepiece.
Longines is a watchmaker that tends to offer something for every taste and occasion, and the increased demand for mid-sized watches makes the new case size an enticing and timely addition to the lineup. The real star here, however, is the selection of new dials in punchy, vibrant hues. These dials, which are the perfect accent to a modern casual wardrobe, make the Legend Diver as much of a stylish accessory as a formidable diver’s tool.
Learn more about the new Longines Legend Diver collection here.
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