By Keith Bombrys
The current Heritage Military watch by Longines is a special release based off of the Heritage watch made in 1918 by Longines, which is currently part of the Longines Museum collection located in Saint-Imier. The original model has a white dial and white numerals outlined in black surrounding the dial. This watch was originally meant to be a pilot watch for the jet pilots and other military personnel. The strap of the original piece did not have white stitching and was much thinner than the strap on today’s model, along with the case of the watch being smaller. The original also features a very large sub-dial for timing seconds at six o’clock. At four o’clock, there is a small push button for stopping and starting the seconds on the sub-dial. The crown of this original piece is the oversized “onion” shape. While Longines did make a lot of changes to the new model of this Heritage Military watch, there are still many similarities to the original model.
Today’s model of Heritage Military has a black dial with very vibrant white colored numerals surrounding the dial. The hands of this wrist piece are also coated in the same vibrant white color, with the face and the surrounding numerals all coated in Super-LumiNova for some of the brightest glow features out on the watch market today. Located at 6 o’clock is the dial for timing seconds as well as the date directly below the seconds dial. The watch is encased in a steel, oval 44mm case, which is much larger than any of the pilot or trench watches that were used during World War I. This model is water resistant up to 3 bars (30 meters). The silver bezel found on the side of the case gives this military piece a very vintage look, comparable to the 1918 Heritage Military model. The piece has a 42-hour power reserve. This and the automatic winding mechanics help to provide the watch with a solid overall movement. The piece comes with a black alligator leather strap that has buckles. The strap has white hand-stitching on either side. The faceplate is stamped with the famous logo for Longines, also done in Super-LumiNova.
Vintage design watches aren’t recreated by many watch companies today. Many of these companies are too busy trying to create the next, best, and greatest time piece since its predecessors. Longines is one of the few companies out on the market that still takes the time to recreate their divine, vintage pieces. Sure, Longines could easily move on to the next watch, stacking all the latest features and gadgets onto their watches, but they don’t. The art of recreating a vintage piece is just that, an art form. It’s a way for the company to not only feature some of their former wrist jewels, but it is also great for showing the newer generations the pure artwork that came before their time; this is a great way to inform the public of the past. This beautiful piece is available and can be purchased for a mere $2,000. For more info, please visit longines.com
