Longines has announced a new version of its Heritage Classic with a sector dial, a faithful reproduction of a model it first made in the Thirties.
Since its founding in 1832, the company has manufactured somewhere in the region of 35 million watches, making it one of the true heavyweights of the Swiss watch world. The last decade it has seen it mine its catalogue of historical designs with skill, reissuing 'Heritage' models that chime with casual buyers and connoisseurs equally: the Skin Diver, the Legend Diver, the Silver Arrow.
Longines' new Heritage Classic features a black sector dial, a style that dates from 1934 and a design seen on a number of other wonderful contemporary watches – Patek Philippe's Calatrava 5296G-001 and Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Control Date, to name two.
Defined by the close concentric circles that segment the watch face, a sector dial is a pleasingly geometric piece of design that recalls both Art Deco and the Bauhaus movement.
First reissued in silver in 2019, the appeal of the time-only Heritage Classic is its simplicity. There's no date window to throw off the symmetry, the matt centre makes the silver hands stand out without the need for additional details and the small seconds ring that partially obscures the 6 is a quirk on the right side of charming. The watch is automatic and 38.5mm in diameter.
As is typical with Longines, the clincher's the price: £1,650 isn’t pocket money, but for a best-in-class vintage reissue like this, it's a steal.
£1,650 (on leather strap) and £1,820 (bracelet); longines.com
