1959 Longines 14ct Yellow Gold "Calatrava" Manually Wound
Ref: 457H332 / 634501

Specification

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with an original Longines box but no original Longines paperwork. The watch comes paired with an 18mm leather strap. The watch is from Circa. 1959 and is in worn, vintage condition but is overall good, as you can see from the photos. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

Longines was founded in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz and is considered to be the oldest registered watch brand. The Longines factory was opened in 1867 in Saint-Imier Switzerland. From this date, the name Longines was present on their dials and the winged hourglass was engraved onto their movements. After visiting the Universal Exhibition of 1876 in the United States, Longines became pioneers in mechanised production. In 1880 the brand name was filed with the Federal Office of Intellectual Property; later their logo was registered in 1889. Their first wristwatch with a single pusher the calibre 13.33z was introduced in 1913. They became the official supplier of the International Aeronautical Federation in 1919. Lindbergh, the aviator, and adventurer, worked with Longines to create the Hour Angle watch in 1927. Their first self-winding calibre 22A was produced in 1945. With continued innovation and technical achievements, Longines became the official timekeeper for Formula one in 1983 for 10 years. They also 2009 became the official timekeeper for the French Open at Roland Garros. Purchased in 1971 by ‘Ebauches SA’, Swiss watchmakers SSIH owned Omega, Tissot, and Lemania, and ASUAG owned Certina, Endura, Eterna, Hamilton, Longines, Mido, and Rado. were merged in 1983 to become the Swatch Group in 1998.

Here we have a 1959 Longines 14ct Yellow Gold "Calatrava" with a 33mm case, the case has thin elegantly curved lugs with a lug-to-lug length of 38.5mm and a case thickness of 7mm which ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. An attractive engine-turned bezel holds a domed crystal, outer minute track with Gold applied baton indexes mark the hours. Very thin Gold hands with sub-seconds at 6 o’clock complete this elegant minimalist dress watch, at 12 o’clock we have the Longines motif. On the reverse, a gold case back, inside a high-grade Manually Wound Longines Cal. 23Z, 17 jewels, 18,000 beats per hour. The watch comes fitted on an 18mm leather strap and comes with its Longines presentation box.

Personal Note

It's not every day you come across an incredible 14ct Yellow Gold from one of the major brands with a truly beautiful case like this one. This is THE perfect gold dress watch for someone after something vintage that ticks all the boxes, on the brown strap tones it down, but throw this on a glossy black strap you have yourself a true tuxedo watch!