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1st Longines Wristwatch Help

2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  jonsvjon 
#1 ·
Hi there

This is my first post on this site hopefully the experts out there can help me with some information!

I am a wristwatch collector in particular longines, quite some time ago I aquired a mens 30mm ish 14k gold longines wristwatch in a trench style when I checked the serial number on the movement it dated the watch to 1905 which seemed far to old so I checked it again via ref sites and sure enough it was definitely 1905. My next thought was that it was a pocket or fob watch conversion so I contacted longines to provide info on the serial via their hand written records (what a service they provide) and they identified it as a wristwatch invoiced to turkish agents

I have tried to find info on the first longines wrist watches and have found many quotes of the 1905 date as the fiirst time a longines was cased as a wristwatch but never any information further to that.

Any body that has knowledge of longines first watches advice or information will be very much appreciated

Sorry I dont have any pics of the watch at the moment however will post later if anyone is interested

Thank you for your time and help
jon
 
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Discussion starter · #3 ·
Be patient - this could take time. I saw one of the second hand references to 1905, but this is the only hard evidence I could come up with.
The history timeline at Longines' own site went from an 1899 pocket watch, to a 1912 sporting event timer, to this:[/]



I will keep looking.


Thank you for your reply - you have come up with the same problem i did that the referance to longines first wristwatch been cased in 1905 is from a third party and not that relible(some sites did say that this was info direct from longines) - a lot of the third party info i have found seems to hint that ladies wristlets were cased from 1905 and that mens wristwatches from the early 1910s. My watch with the infomation from longines does in fact disprove this.

As for the info pulled from longines website, the details clearly do say - 1913 -Longines develops its first calibre for a wristwatch - this inturn does mean that it was the first wristwatch to be made but rather the first wristwatch to use a movement designed for use in a wristwatch. mine even tho longines have confirmed it was made as a wristwatch is still a pocket watch/fob watch movement converted to fit in a wristwatch case.(i dont feel this makes it any less of a wristwatch than the 1913 model as it still came from the longines factory as a wristwatch)

i do find it strange that longines do not show infomation on the first time they made or cased wristwatches as this really must be classed as one of the most significants point in thier long history!

i have contacted longines again to see if they are willing to clarify any infomation for me/us dont know if they will be willing as this is a lot to ask outside of providing a watches history - which they do so well. will provide details of what they say when i receive
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
i have just received a email reply from longines

as for the manufacture date of my wristwatch i have been informed that it was definatly 1905 in fact they gave the exact date in 1905 amazing !

On the downside however as to the question of the date when longines first cased wristwatches and if it was 1905 -
quoting email - "we have not in the position to say that the first Longines wristwatch was produced in 1905 and we don’t not communicate"
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Yes I fully agree, I think that this will just be a case of keeping an eye out for an scraps of information that may be out there wheather that is on old advert or someone else that has a similar watch or has done research on this matter.

I think for now I am very happy with owning my watch, which is the oldist one I have come across so far !

The other odd thing about the watch is that no one seems to have a record of the movement which is a 13.92 (started a new thread on this) and when I got the email back from longines they didn't say the usual details of when the Movement was first entered on to the market

Thinking about this I could easily come to the conclusion that this may have been a prototype of some kind but as quoted earlier wrist watches were not deemed important at that point or nore could they have known how bigger thing watched are 100 yrs later it may have just invoiced and sold as a std gold watch. This however is impossible to say for sure tho and may be just me hoping that my watch is more than it is?
 
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