Longines

From early in its history the brand pursued precision as its defining value. Longines won prizes at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 and accumulated ten Grand Prix awards at World's Fairs over the following decades, earning it the informal title of the world's most decorated watch manufacturer. In 1880 Ernest Francillon registered the Longines name as a trademark, and in 1889 the winged hourglass logo followed. That logo remains the oldest continuously active trademark on record with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The twentieth century saw Longines move into high-stakes timekeeping. The brand served as the official timekeeper for Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight and subsequently collaborated with the aviator to produce the Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch in 1931. The instrument-grade timepiece, measuring 47.5 mm in diameter with a hand-wound calibre in a sterling silver case, allowed pilots to determine longitude through celestial navigation. Around 2,000 examples were made, and the model is today among the most studied and collected pieces in vintage aviation horology. During the Second World War, Longines was one of twelve manufacturers commissioned to produce the so-called Dirty Dozen watches for the British Army, a series that has become a staple of military watch collecting.

In 1983 Longines joined what would become the Swatch Group, where it has since been positioned as the group's classical-elegance segment alongside brands targeting different price and style points. The heritage collection introduced from the 1980s onward has systematically reissued and reinterpreted earlier models, keeping the archive continuously relevant to a new generation of buyers.

At Nordic auction houses, Longines watches appear regularly across a wide spectrum: from early pocket watches in gold and silver cases to mid-century manual-wind wristwatches and the more specialised chronograph and aviation references. The 371 Longines lots catalogued on Auctionist reflect steady collector interest, with military-spec pieces, gold-cased dress watches, and vintage chronographs consistently drawing competitive bidding.