Alvin Wong 03 February 2020

Longines flexes vintage prowess yet again with this reissue.

Watch buffs with a predilection for historical trivia will appreciate that Longines’ chronograph reissues are as necessary as they are appropriate.

Necessary because handsome, high-precision chronographs are an important part of Longines’ history, and the brand’s association with interval timing complications is a story that needs to be told. Longines had gained a reputation for making technically astute chronographs during the early 19th century, with involvement in prestigious sporting competitions and much of its development efforts focused in the category of watches during that time. And why appropriate? Well, with the demand for vintage-inspired creations not abating anytime soon, there is no brand better positioned than Longines to offer watches of that class with both quality and legitimacy.

The Heritage Classic Chronograph 1946 is the latest addition to a stellar cast of ‘Heritage’ watches, inspired by archival models, and upgraded with contemporary engines and construction.

Longines' chronograph from the 1940s (left) that inspired the Heritage Classic Chronograph 1946 (right)

As the name suggests, the Heritage Classic Chronograph 1946 takes after a model from the 1940s, and it exudes elegant machismo as common to chronographs of the era – part-dress watch, part-tool watch and wholly versatile as an all-occasion accompaniment.

The watch’s 40mm steel case ensures presence on the wrist, accentuated by aesthetic nods to the original by way of a domed silver opaline dial with ‘dolphin’ style fonts, classy blue leaf-shaped hands, and a bi-compax layout. The chronograph function, powered by the ETA-based automatic Calibre L895.5 movement, made exclusively for Longines, runs on a central sweep seconds hand and a 30-minute totaliser at nine o’clock.

Whether in performance or style, the Heritage Classic Chronograph 1946, much like its brethren from 2017 the Heritage Chronograph from 1940, is unfussy, subtly sophisticated and an office-appropriate choice for those who desire a smart timepiece that offers slightly more visual oomph than quiet three-hand dress watches. If Longines’ recent slew of throwback-inspired creations suggests anything, it is that the Heritage Classic Chronograph 1946 won’t be the last of the Longines’ retro-fuelled charge – not that anyone who covets a wallet-friendly, legacy-loaded something is complaining.

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Alvin Wong

Ex Editor-In Chief

Alvin promises not to be a douche when talking about watches. He may have scoured the Basel and Geneva watch fairs for the past 15 years, and played an instrumental role to the growth of Singapore's pioneering horological and men's lifestyle publications, but the intrepid scribe seeks to learn something new with each story he writes.