BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
Longines has been the undisputed king of the vintage re-issue game for a while now and the Legend diver has been one of the more successful models from its heritage line up. While the watch stands aesthetically true to its 1960’s inspiration its large 42mm footprint on the wrist has always been a talking point, especially amongst enthusiasts with smaller wrists. To tackle this, Longines has introduced a more tamed 36mm version of the legend diver and what more, the watch comes in a choice of three colors: black, white (mother of Pearl) and burgundy fume.
Akin to its elder sibling the dial on the legend diver 36mm exhibits oodles of vintage charm. The hour index is printed and is a mix of thick elongated rectangles along with Arabic numerals at 6,9 and 12. The minute track consists of thin long hash marks which makes it a breeze to read time using the unique and nicely proportioned spear shaped handset. One of my favorite details on this dial are the small lume plots which have been placed towards the outer edge of the dial and alongside the Arabic numerals giving the dial a distinctive visual appeal.
Made from stainless steel and coming in at a rather conservative diameter of 36mm, the case is what makes this watch special. It features the same compressor style design as the original with two prominent oversized screw down crowns jutting out of the case giving the watch a toolish look. The crown at 2 can be used to rotate the internal bezel whereas the crown at 4 would help with setting the time and winding the movement. Sitting on top of the case is a domed sapphire crystal which is reminiscent of acrylic crystals from the past and gives the watch a nice vintage vibe. The case back, on the other hand, is closed to support the 300-meter water resistance and has a deeply embossed motif of a diver with a spear just like the one found on the vintage reference.
Powering the Longines Legend Diver 36 is the brands Caliber L522 which is based on the ETA2000. It is an automatic movement that operates at a frequency of 4 Hz and offers a power reserve of around 40 hours.
To conclude I would like to say that the Longines Legend diver 36 makes a bold and string statement in a market flooded with bulky and oversized dive watches. And while Longines is marketing this as a lady’s watch, in my opinion, it can easily be considered as a great unisex option especially with the resurgence of the vintage trend. The new watches would be available to purchase on a variety of strap options including a great looking Milanese bracelet. The retail prices would vary between EUR 1,830 and EUR 2,050.
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