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VIDEO: A short history of Longines dive watches in the glorious ’60s VIDEO: A short history of Longines dive watches in the glorious ’60s

VIDEO: A short history of Longines dive watches in the glorious ’60s

Nick Kenyon

Longines is well known for producing important pilot’s watches in the 1930s and gorgeous dress watches in the ’50s. But one area that’s sometimes overlooked, is Longines’ impressive track record with dive watches.

From as early as 1937, Longines was making strides in the race to make a functional and truly water-resistant watch when they developed the world’s first underwater chronograph, complete with flyback mechanism. A couple of decades later, they came up with another sub-aquatic innovation, releasing their first double-crown super compressor style case in 1959 with the reference 7042.

history of Longines dive watches

This history continued over the ’60s and early ’70s, with many different references of diving chronographs and time-only divers that featured an array of different case manufacturing techniques as well as types of caliber within. This is a history that continues to this day with popular models such as the Longines Legend Diver and the more contemporary Longines Hydroconquest.  When it comes to diving watches, Longines are still making a big splash.

Made in partnership with Longines. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.