Longines present a new piece, the Longines Master Collection Retrograde Moon Phases.  If you enjoy a bit of dial action this one has it all – six hands, four of which are slender retrogrades fluttering like flirty blue eyelashes, to these add two apertures for the moonphase and day/night indicators and you have one of the busiest dials unveiled at BaselWorld 2011.

The piece uses a new movement the automatic L701.2 Calibre with 46 hours of power reserve, which for the first time adds a day/night indicator – you’ll find it tucked in beneath the retrograde day of the week display at the top.  On the right is the calendar, on the left is a 24 hour second time zone with the small seconds retrograde down at the bottom.  This abundant array of displays are presented on a barleycorn guillochéd dial which looks particularly sharp in the black dial option.

The Longines Master Collection Retrograde Moon Phases watch features a classically rounded stainless steel case available in two sizes, 41mm or 44mm with brown or black alligator leather strap options.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Longines release their Les Elégantes Collection for 2010.

Ladies watches have in recent times mirrored that of their more masculine counterparts, manufacturers have realised that women want the complications, the sporty styling, even the outsize “look-at-me” cuff shredding size synonymous with some men’s collections.  Throughout these evolutions the exquisitely crafted quintessentially quaint dress watch has firmly refused to go away.

Art Deco influenced almost everything – you and I see evidence of it almost everyday in the most mundane of items, from its rich sunburst designs to the bold shapes, forms and curves – influences gained partly from the beginnings of global travel when our planet was becoming a smaller place, a time when artists were taking influences from previously unseen Aztec, Egyptian and African designs.  In terms of the watch industry, manufacturers managed to shrink mechanical movements into the tiny confines of ladies wristwatch cases just at the perfect time to produce exquisite pieces ready to be showcased on newly exposed slim wrists in the “roaring twenties”.  Over at Ebel, Alice Blum’s eye for detail and design won the brand the Grand Prix in the category “High Jewellery Wristwatches” at the 1925 “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoraties et Industries Modernes” in Paris, the event that would eventually give Art Deco its title.

Surely a time which should continue to be celebrated and one which Longines pay tribute to annually with their Les Elégantes Collection. For 2010 three models of ten pieces each, one rectangle yellow gold, one tonneau in rose gold, one almond shaped in white gold, all in the style of Art Deco and at the heart of each the Longines Calibre L805 mechanical movement.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Longines release a replica of a watch once used by the scientists on the Expéditions Polaires Françaises – Missions Paul-Emile Victor which began in the 1940′s with the purpose of  exploring the coast of  Greenland and the Adélie Coast.

The piece features a self-winding movement, the Calibre L619 with a power reserve of 42 hours. The wearers of the original model required practicality, therefore the styling was functional and utilitarian – just perfect for today’s vintage-inspired niche of the watch market which continues to grow.

In honour of its origins the Longines Expéditions Polaires Françaises – Missions Paul-Emile Victor watch features the names of the two locations, Greenland and Adélie engraved on the back of the stainless steel case and the piece in true Longines fashion is unfussy and classical.

Popularity: 8% [?]

With two new releases, the The Longines Column-Wheel Chronograph and The Longines Column-Wheel Sports Chronograph the brand continues to consolidate its historical position as creators of classical and sporty timekeepers.

Longines Column Wheel Chronograph

Both pieces use the L688.2 self-winding movement developed with ETA which was launched in 2009.  For many traditionalists the presence of a column-wheel (in this case blued steel) to control the chronograph function is an indicator of a “true chronograph” as most modern chronographs use cams attached to a base calibre movement to start, stop and return to zero the chronograph, rather than the column-wheel which achieves the same purpose but which is an integral part of the movement. Whatever your opinions on this however the L688.2 is certainly a contemporary interpretation of a column-wheel chronograph movement using up to date technology and one which Longines state is “exceptionally user-friendly” and requires “only the finest touch to start and stop the mechanism”.

The L688.2 movement has a power reserve of 54 hours and both pieces feature small seconds at 9 o’clock, date aperture a 4.30, 30-minute counter at 3 0’clock and 12 hour counter at 6 o’clock.  The dauphine shaped hands are coated with Super-LumiNova®.  Water resistance is to 30m for the Column Wheel Chronograph and 100m for the Column Wheel Sports Chronograph thanks to its screwed-in case back.

L688.2 Column Wheel Chronograph movement

The Column-Wheel Chronograph is the more elegant of the two with a  39mm steel or rose gold case, featuring classical detailing such as a silvered dial on dark brown alligator strap and the Column-Wheel Sports Chronograph slightly larger at 41mm features more striking choices of steel with black lacquered or brushed grey dial and steel bracelet or steel with contrasting black or grey ceramic central links or rubber strap.

Popularity: 22% [?]