Of the many companies drawing from their pasts to create new watches, few have been doing it as long and as successfully as Longines. This year at Baselworld was no different for the brand, with the release of four new vintage-inspired pieces in its Heritage collection. Among these is the Flagship Heritage 60th Anniversary 1957-2017, an homage watch that goes back to the roots of the brand?s Flagship series. Released in 1957 and named for the leading ship of a navy?s commander-in-chief, the collection has throughout its long history represented incredible value, combining high-quality manufacturing with classical designs (vintage model pictured below). Today, vintage Longines Flagship watches are still some of the most accessibly priced pieces for collectors, a testament to the fact that the series has long been overshadowed by other collections from the ?Golden Age? of horology despite its excellent workmanship.
Available in steel, yellow gold, and rose gold, and measuring 38.5 mm in diameter, the modern watch channels many of the classic elements of the original, and at only a few millimeters larger in size. The case uses a simple crown and long, thin, faceted lugs, and features a stamped caravel (a 16th-17th Century Iberian Peninsula sailing ship) caseback that is the series’ hallmark. Below, you’ll find a photo comparing the casebacks of a 2014 Flagship (in steel) and that of an early Flagship model (in gold), courtesy of our friends at Fratell...