Longines, a watch brand that has long led the field in ?neo-vintage? watches, has once again demonstrated its skill in this arena with the new Heritage Skin Diver. The dive watch ? which comes on the heels of the critically-acclaimed Legend Diver watch, a 1960s super-compressor-style diver, and last year?s Avigation BigEye, based on a 1930s aviation chronograph? is a further expansion of the brand’s popular Heritage collection.
This new piece is based on a skin diving (or shallow-water diving) watch, commonly known as the ?Nautilus,? produced by Longines from the late 1950s into the ?60s (vintage picture above, via Phillips). This vintage model was Longines? first dive watch, hitting the market at a time when hobby diving was entering the mainstream, along with the equipment required for it, specifically watches. During this era, countless new divers’ watches were launched, most notably the Omega Seamaster, Rolex Submariner, and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms series, though also other watches we?ve covered in ?Vintage Eye? like the Zodiac Sea Wolf, DOXA SUB collections, and various Seiko divers, like the recently re-issued contemporary version of the Seiko Ref. 6159-7001.
The modern Skin Diver is a 42-mm steel watch with a 300-meter dive rating. With a thick, screw-down waffle crown, long trapezoidal lugs, a domed sapphire crystal, and a black PVD-coated steel bezel. The modern watch bears a clear resemblance to the vintage model, though it’s notably missing t...