PRE-BASEL: The Longines Conquest Classic Moonphase
Felix Scholz
The Longines Conquest was one of the great names in everyday elegance from the golden era of watch design in the mid-’50s. When it was originally launched in 1954, the Conquest was a flagship line for the brand – and a worthy challenger to the likes of the Omega Constellation. Those golden years of yore may be gone, but the good news is that the Longines Conquest is back and still very much on point. This year at Baselworld, the world’s largest watch fair, Longines will continue the revival of the Conquest line (which included a critically acclaimed re-edition last year) with the complex and confident Conquest Classic Moonphase.
Like it says on the box the Conquest Classic Moonphase features a moonphase complication at 6, but it is flush with other complications too – there’s a chronograph with 12-hour counter sharing space with the moonphase, a 30-minute counter at 12 which also encompasses a day and month indicator, a central date hand (the one with the crescent tip – the other is the running chronograph seconds hand) and a subdial at 9 which includes a running seconds hand and a second timezone indicator. In the words of Donna Summer, this watch really is working hard for the money.
The single reason this sheer weight of functionality doesn’t get in the way of the still classic form is the dial. It’s clean. Longines have been smart enough not to try anything clever with dial design and configuration, they’ve stuck with a classic layout – so it actually remains eminently readable. No mean feat. We don’t yet have specifications on case thickness (it’s a well sized 42mm across), but I suspect the ETA base movement with added modules will make this a fairly tall piece on the wrist.
In terms of bang for buck, this piece is very much in step with Longines practical and competitive price positioning -the steel and gold cap model (gold cap watches, while not being solid gold, have a much higher amount of gold in them than gold plate) has an AU RRP of $6325. Stay tuned for prices on the other variants.
Longines Conquest Classic Moonphase Australian Pricing and Specifications:
Steel and gold cap model RRP: $6325 AUD
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Calibre: Calibre L678 (VAL 7751) 13¼ lines, 25 jewels, 28’800 vibrations per hours Power reserve: 48 hours Functions Hours, minutes, small second and 24-hour indicator at 9 o’clock, day of the week, month and moon phases. Date indicated by the half-moon central hand. Chronograph Central seconds sweep Dragging 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock Dragging 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock
Case: Circular, Ø 42.00 mm Steel, steel and 18k rose gold cap, 18k rose gold Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with several layers of anti-reflective coating Screw-down case back with sapphire crystal Water-resistant To 5 bar (50 meters)
Dials:Black, 9 applied indices, with Super-LumiNova® Silvered, 9 applied indices, with Super-LumiNova® Hands Rhodium-plated or rose polished with Super-LumiNova® on hours and minutes hands
Bracelet/Strap: Steel, steel and 18k rose gold or black alligator. Triple safety folding clasp and push-piece opening mechanism.