Longines was a watch company that leaded watch industry in old days. However they had to change themselves after The Quartz Crisis. Longines has a good reputation in Antique watches, but now Longines is a member of Swatch Group and it is positioned as high range, same with Rado. That literally means one step lower than Omega in same group, while it also means we can get the current collections more reasonable price.
Overview – Longines Heritage 1945
Heritage 1945 was unveiled in 2017. This model is directly inspired one of antique watches by themselves. Specifically, this watch is inspired by an old piece that Hodinkee’s founder (Benjamin Clymer) owns. As he already spoke out about his watch deeply on Hodinkee’s article, I, one of just outsiders don’t feel that we need to mention on this so much. I just feel the one produced in 1940s that he owns is simply nice and is worth to be inspired.
Case
The case is made by stainless steel, its shape looks like a thick cylinder. This kind of shape can be seen in antique watches.
The case diameter is 40mm. As the original one he has is 37mm, this newly unveiled one is a bit larger. Nowadays the 40mm case is very common, however Benjamin himself also admits that 37mm is better. I have also seen that some of fans want to see 37mm version the as a special edition. Regarding the case size, I totally agree with them.
Lug-to-Lug Height is about 50.6mm. Moderate length as comparison with 40mm case.
The thickness is 12.3mm. This might sound a bit thicker, but look at this:
The thickness of 4mm in the whole 12.3mm is the domed sapphire crystal glass. So the case itself is almost 8mm, technically. I think this thickness should be welcome when we take the fact that this model uses an automatic movement into consideration.
Crown
The crown shows their brand name and their brand logo “The winged hourglass” on itself. This crown is big enough to wind easily, even though we don’t have to wind it so much frequently cause this is automatic watch.
Dial – Indices and Hands
This copper dial is one of the most intriguing points of this watch. When you look at it in a watch store, you will see it like this. Because of its color and hairline finished surface, I would say this looks like a vintage watch, which is nice.
On the other hand, when you get a bit of sunlight it is going to be like this. Almost looks like a smooth dial, which is also nice.
These leaf hands are blued steel, long enough and looking good. Small second hand seems also blued steel one.
Both Indices and brand logo aren’t applied style. But the indices are little raised a bit.
Strap and Belt
The standard strap is nubuck leather in beige, which goes well with the copper dial.
Similar to the crown, there is “The winged hourglass” on the buckle.
Case Back – Movement
Longines implements a polished solid back for this watch. Their logo, name and identifications are engraved on it.
Even though the original watch Hodinkee’s founder owns has a manual movement, Longines uses a automatic movement on it. They call it as “Longines L609”.
<Longines L609>
- System – Automatic winding (Hours, minutes and small seconds)
- Diameter – 25.60mm
- Thickness – 4.35mm
- Jewels – 27
- Power reserve in hours – 42
- Frequency – 28,800 A/h (4Hz)
- Note – Based on ETA 2895/2 movement
Longines L609 is a common movement among Heritage collection. In fact, ETA 2895/2 which is the base caliber of L609 is based on very famous movement, ETA 2892-A2. With that in mind, I don’t think there is going to be any problem if you use it as a daily watch.
Summary
An accessible model inspired by a great 1940s vintage, with a mass produced system.
I guess the good thing of Longines now is that we can access to vintage looking watches by moderate prices. For example, take Présence Heritage L4.767.8.73.2. Although this reference is a pink gold case with a good Art Deco design, it is accessible under $3,000. (And personally I wanted to add that its case size is literally perfect among modern watches!) Of course, Heritage 1945 is also one of these.
By the way, when I first heard the name of “Heritage 1945”, just confused Vintage 1945 by Girard-Perregaux.☻
Overall Rate
Spec information
- Brand: Longines
- Model: The Longines Heritage 1945
- Reference: L2.813.4.66.0
- Movement: Longines L609 (Based on ETA 2895/2)
- Remarks: Currently available
- Expected List Price: 1,800 USD
