Longines Legend Diver Watch

So far as Swiss watchmakers are concerned, Longines are a brand with a mighty impressive heritage so we always sit up and take notice when they’ve got a new timepiece on the market – particularly one as impressive as this Legend Diver Watch. Priced at $3000, it doesn’t come cheap but it is undoubtedly one of the brand’s most striking watches in recent memory and we’re big fans of its aesthetics and performance here at Coolector HQ.

The Longines Legend Diver Watch ($3000) has considerable heritage as the brand has been crafting luxury watches for well over half a century now and it has culminated in wonderful looking timepieces like this one. The Longines Legend Diver was born from the 1950s and 60s SCUBA era, and its newest incarnation doubles down on the vintage aesthetics by reimagining the Legend Diver with a bronze case and deep-green gradient dial that immediately catches the eye and will turn heads everywhere you go.

Diving Deep

Whilst the Legend Diver Watch can trace its lineage back to skin divers crafted by Longines in the 50s, this contemporary incarnation of the line takes its design inspiration from an iconic reference from 1960 – namely, the Longines reference 7042. This period in the mid-century was an era of exploration and experimentation, and not just underwater but also in the world of watch manufacture and design. The 7042 was certainly no exception, and it boasted an oversized (42mm) super-compressor case, inner-rotating bezel, and luminous hands and markers.

The Longines Legend Diver Watch ($3000) has a super-compressor design which is a mighty impressive feat of engineering, whereby increasing water pressure will also increase the pressure on the seals which, in more simple terms, means that the deeper you go, the tighter the seal will be. The case design, internal bezel, and dual hash-marked crowns are hallmarks of this style, and these visual cues are all heavily evident in this modern line of Longines Legend Diver watches.

This new version is a major departure in terms of both the case material and dial colour, yet the bronze case and gradient green dial are a natural, organic fit for the timepiece’s vintage aesthetic. Bronze is the perfect case material for this vintage style design, and evokes the grandeur and mystique of the early days of skin diving. The bronze also allows for an intimate ownership experience, as the watch will naturally patina over time, creating natural shifts in hue and texture that make each watch one-of-a-kind, telling the story of the adventures you’ve taken it upon.

Deliciously Detailed Dial

The dial of the bronze Longines Legend Diver keeps the styling of the rest of the line, and this includes an internally rotating bezel, Arabic numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12, and an eye-catching and highly legible handset. What truly sets this model apart from the crowd is the deep emerald-green lacquered dial, which darkens to black at the periphery. The dial is beautiful; and when combined with the gilt hands and markers and framed by the bronze case, the effect is captivating and evocative of years gone by.

The Longines Legend Diver is powered by a Longines Caliber L888.5 movement which is amongst the best in the business. This bespoke movement is made exclusively for Longines through Swatch Group partner ETA and is based on the ETA A31.L11 automatic movement. This is no standard off-the-shelf movement — it boasts a silicon balance spring, 64-hour power reserve, and a beat rate of 25.2kbph.