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Zach Weiss
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If a new mechanical chronograph is an exciting thing to see from a brand you like, a column-wheel mono-pusher is almost mind-blowing. A few weeks ago, Longines announced their dryly titled Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph ref L2.800.4.53.0, and the mix of a cool movement and a sharp, early 20th-century aesthetic, made it really stand out. Part of their Heritage line, the new watch draws directly from what many might consider to be the “heyday” of Longines’ own history; the 13ZN caliber chronographs for the late 30’s – 40’s. First made in 1936, the 13ZN was a manufacture caliber from the brand that was available in many variations in its life; defining what a high-end chronograph should be.
At a glance, one might see the new watch and think, well, that’s Longines trying to pull off the Patek look, but it is in fact correct to the period of the source watches. From the wide tachy, to the leaf hands, down to the slender and almost stern type-face, all are pulled from the 30’s and 40’s. It’s a look that is often copied, but rarely correctly executed, as it defines a certain luxury aesthetic. With the historical tie in, Longines’ own eye for detail, and the sheer class of a through crown mono-pusher, it comes across well here; creating an accessible, though not inexpensive opportunity to obtain a modern watch with these looks. It’s attainable luxury through and through.
Featuring a decorated Longines’ L788 (ETA A08.L11) automatic column-wheel mono-pusher caliber, sapphire crystals and a genuine gator strap, the L2.800.4.53.0 has an MSRP of $3,150. This is inline with Longines’ other watches, such as the glorious Heritage 1973 we reviewed last year, and is to be expected from a Swiss-Made automatic chronograph meant for retail.
Longines Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph ref L2.800.4.53.0 Review
Case: Steel
Movement: Longines L788
Dial: Black
Lume: No
Lens: Sapphire
Strap: Genuine Alligator
Water Res.: 30M
Dimensions: 41 x 49 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Crown/Pusher: 6.5 x 5.5mm
Price: $3,150
Case
The case of the L2.800.4.53.0 is simple and elegant, gaining personality from some very attractive lugs. The first thing you’ll notice about the watch is that it’s fairly large. Coming in at 41 x 49 x 14mm, it has a sporty profile to say the least. Of course, that isn’t totally inappropriate for the style, which is “sport” of another time-period. That said it’s larger than its historical counter-parts, which would have been closer to 35mm. It’s also not far in diameter from some of the modern haute-heavy-hitters, such as the Patek 5170, which tend to hover in the 39.5mm range. The size is clearly based off of the L788 movement, with proportions coming from sub-dial locations and movement thickness. As such, while not a small dress watch, the proportions are very in tune, creating a piece that looks “right”, at least interns of width and length. I do wish they’d create a manual-wind version of this movement, saving a few millimeters in height as 14 does feel a bit tall.
The design itself is fairly modest. The middle case is a cylinder with slab sides, capped with a thin bezel with a nice wide bevel. The lugs are a bit more unique, coming in at an angle, creating a tapering gap. So, while the lug-width at the strap is 20mm, where it meets the case it’s closer to 22mm. This isn’t something you see very often (the Nomos Orion being the only other that comes to mind) and it’s a simple and attractive way to make the lugs more interesting and appear longer. The lug geometry is then very angular, with various bevels and flat surfaces creating sharp and pleasing curves. The whole case is polished, making the various facets and bezels glint in the light.
At 3 is the single pusher/crown, measuring 6.5 x 5.5mm. It has a classic mono-pusher design with a clean cylindrical pusher coming out of a thinner, coin-edged “crown”. It’s fairly subdued in its execution, with no real special attention paid. That said, it suits the watch’s style and design. By lacking the classic chrono-pushers, the watch has a cleaner, more formal look. By ten is a sunken pusher used for changing the date, removing that function from the crown all together. It’s an innocuous detail you’ll only notice when you need to use it.
Flipping the watch over, you have a display case back showing off the L788 movement within. Longines/ETA decorates the movement nicely with perlage throughout and a big blue column-wheel and their branded logo, which is vertically striped with cote de Geneve. It’s a nice view to say the least, made even more engaging by the column-wheel.
Dial
As mentioned before, the dial captures that 40’s aesthetic by staying true to the original elements as well as layout. They smartly took into consideration the locations of the sub-dials and date window to create something very balanced. The black dial has an almost stripped down feel, with simply a matte surface and white markers. I at once like and dislike this. On one hand, the simplicity of the approach is very clean, lacking in fussiness or ostentatious details. It’s sort of honest and true. On the other, it feels perhaps a bit flat, or like it’s missing something. With the more robust case, I just ache for a bit of texture. As we saw on the Hanhart Pioneer Monocontrol, which took a classic, albeit military design, and dressed it up with graining and slight shifts in dial height and surface texture, it only takes a little bit of detailing to really elevate something. With that said, on the white dial version the sub-dials are actually silver, perhaps with slight graining, so it’s only the black dial with this pseudo-issue.
Looking at the indexes, there’s actually a lot going on with a substantial amount of details. The primary index consists of hour numerals in a clean, almost Bauhaus typeface, skipping 3, 6 and 9 for sub-dials and dates, and slightly cutting off 2, 4, 8 and 10 also for the sub-dials. Sometimes cut off numbers bother me, but here they don’t. They feel balanced, and enough of the numerals are present to be legible. Encircling this index is a minute/seconds index with small numerals every 5 units, lines per unit and 1/5th sub-seconds for the chronograph. The line are then all connected by a white line creating a border to this almost inner-dial.
The post Longines Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph Review appeared first on worn&wound.
Continue reading...
Let us know your thoughts and impressions.
If a new mechanical chronograph is an exciting thing to see from a brand you like, a column-wheel mono-pusher is almost mind-blowing. A few weeks ago, Longines announced their dryly titled Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph ref L2.800.4.53.0, and the mix of a cool movement and a sharp, early 20th-century aesthetic, made it really stand out. Part of their Heritage line, the new watch draws directly from what many might consider to be the “heyday” of Longines’ own history; the 13ZN caliber chronographs for the late 30’s – 40’s. First made in 1936, the 13ZN was a manufacture caliber from the brand that was available in many variations in its life; defining what a high-end chronograph should be.
At a glance, one might see the new watch and think, well, that’s Longines trying to pull off the Patek look, but it is in fact correct to the period of the source watches. From the wide tachy, to the leaf hands, down to the slender and almost stern type-face, all are pulled from the 30’s and 40’s. It’s a look that is often copied, but rarely correctly executed, as it defines a certain luxury aesthetic. With the historical tie in, Longines’ own eye for detail, and the sheer class of a through crown mono-pusher, it comes across well here; creating an accessible, though not inexpensive opportunity to obtain a modern watch with these looks. It’s attainable luxury through and through.
Featuring a decorated Longines’ L788 (ETA A08.L11) automatic column-wheel mono-pusher caliber, sapphire crystals and a genuine gator strap, the L2.800.4.53.0 has an MSRP of $3,150. This is inline with Longines’ other watches, such as the glorious Heritage 1973 we reviewed last year, and is to be expected from a Swiss-Made automatic chronograph meant for retail.
Longines Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph ref L2.800.4.53.0 Review
Case: SteelMovement: Longines L788
Dial: Black
Lume: No
Lens: Sapphire
Strap: Genuine Alligator
Water Res.: 30M
Dimensions: 41 x 49 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Crown/Pusher: 6.5 x 5.5mm
Price: $3,150
Case
The case of the L2.800.4.53.0 is simple and elegant, gaining personality from some very attractive lugs. The first thing you’ll notice about the watch is that it’s fairly large. Coming in at 41 x 49 x 14mm, it has a sporty profile to say the least. Of course, that isn’t totally inappropriate for the style, which is “sport” of another time-period. That said it’s larger than its historical counter-parts, which would have been closer to 35mm. It’s also not far in diameter from some of the modern haute-heavy-hitters, such as the Patek 5170, which tend to hover in the 39.5mm range. The size is clearly based off of the L788 movement, with proportions coming from sub-dial locations and movement thickness. As such, while not a small dress watch, the proportions are very in tune, creating a piece that looks “right”, at least interns of width and length. I do wish they’d create a manual-wind version of this movement, saving a few millimeters in height as 14 does feel a bit tall.
The design itself is fairly modest. The middle case is a cylinder with slab sides, capped with a thin bezel with a nice wide bevel. The lugs are a bit more unique, coming in at an angle, creating a tapering gap. So, while the lug-width at the strap is 20mm, where it meets the case it’s closer to 22mm. This isn’t something you see very often (the Nomos Orion being the only other that comes to mind) and it’s a simple and attractive way to make the lugs more interesting and appear longer. The lug geometry is then very angular, with various bevels and flat surfaces creating sharp and pleasing curves. The whole case is polished, making the various facets and bezels glint in the light.
At 3 is the single pusher/crown, measuring 6.5 x 5.5mm. It has a classic mono-pusher design with a clean cylindrical pusher coming out of a thinner, coin-edged “crown”. It’s fairly subdued in its execution, with no real special attention paid. That said, it suits the watch’s style and design. By lacking the classic chrono-pushers, the watch has a cleaner, more formal look. By ten is a sunken pusher used for changing the date, removing that function from the crown all together. It’s an innocuous detail you’ll only notice when you need to use it.
Flipping the watch over, you have a display case back showing off the L788 movement within. Longines/ETA decorates the movement nicely with perlage throughout and a big blue column-wheel and their branded logo, which is vertically striped with cote de Geneve. It’s a nice view to say the least, made even more engaging by the column-wheel.
Dial
As mentioned before, the dial captures that 40’s aesthetic by staying true to the original elements as well as layout. They smartly took into consideration the locations of the sub-dials and date window to create something very balanced. The black dial has an almost stripped down feel, with simply a matte surface and white markers. I at once like and dislike this. On one hand, the simplicity of the approach is very clean, lacking in fussiness or ostentatious details. It’s sort of honest and true. On the other, it feels perhaps a bit flat, or like it’s missing something. With the more robust case, I just ache for a bit of texture. As we saw on the Hanhart Pioneer Monocontrol, which took a classic, albeit military design, and dressed it up with graining and slight shifts in dial height and surface texture, it only takes a little bit of detailing to really elevate something. With that said, on the white dial version the sub-dials are actually silver, perhaps with slight graining, so it’s only the black dial with this pseudo-issue.
Looking at the indexes, there’s actually a lot going on with a substantial amount of details. The primary index consists of hour numerals in a clean, almost Bauhaus typeface, skipping 3, 6 and 9 for sub-dials and dates, and slightly cutting off 2, 4, 8 and 10 also for the sub-dials. Sometimes cut off numbers bother me, but here they don’t. They feel balanced, and enough of the numerals are present to be legible. Encircling this index is a minute/seconds index with small numerals every 5 units, lines per unit and 1/5th sub-seconds for the chronograph. The line are then all connected by a white line creating a border to this almost inner-dial.
The post Longines Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph Review appeared first on worn&wound.
Continue reading...
Let us know your thoughts and impressions.