Finding the right watch without a classic round case is more difficult than I expected. As you know, I’ve been pursuing collection options these days. Harray for vintage longin coming to the rescue!
The round watch case, as we know today, is essentially synonymous with watchmaking. This illustrates the direct transition from pocket watches of the last century to miniaturized wrist pocket watches. The reasons why pocket watches are rounded were diverse and diverse. Perhaps the biggest thing was that having rounded sides meant that more primitive metalworking techniques didn’t have to compete with polishing sharp edges. After that, when the watch first moves to your wrist, the corner shape is likely to make it seem uncomfortable to wear.
Echo/Nutral Ribaner
Too many good choices destiny
In his inventive work, the revolution, David Landes pointed out that when a watch was small enough to wear for portable use, it was virtually inevitable that it would become small enough for the wrist.
And certainly, here we have a wealth of today’s watch options! With the improvements in industrial technology, there are also countless shapes, including rectangles, diamond-like octagons, squares, triangles, and everything in between. The current challenge is navigating the richness of options.
Cartier Tank Normal – Image: Vintage of the Wind
et tu, Cartier?
My journey began with Cartier. Watch Maison is the master of shapes. Many of its designs are especially tank normal and tank francaise. I seem to prefer a watch with a slightly thicker bezel. If I choose an absolute favorite shape, it will probably be the tank normal. There’s something very cool about how the early Cartier tank designs were inspired by the Renault FT-17 tank (photo below).
Image: Australian War Memorial
The Cartier Tank Normal is my dream watch. Backstory, that class…look! Unfortunately, the normal tank is outside my budget so I’ve returned to the drawings for me. Yes, I was able to choose the simpler and more affordable Cartier ones. It will likely be a vintage tank with manual caliber. But even those seem to be high in today’s secondary market.
Universal Geneve ref. 842135 – Image: Analog/Shift
Universal Genneuve, Ohio, how you can seduce me…
Another interesting rabbit hole I found, considering ownership of the vintage Cartier tank, was that of Universal Geneve. The brand released many interesting shapes of watches in the 1960s and 1970s. Some people called them “ellipses” simply because they resemble the shape and dynamism of the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse case.
These watches by Universal Geneve can offer very similar form factors, but multiple designs and variations live in the brand’s back catalogue. The challenge here is, like many watches (*sigh*) these days, at a considerable price they can command. It’s not uncommon to see these sell well over 1,500 euros.
The Interesting World of Vintage Longines
This is where Longines intervene. The brand is currently doing an incredible job of recreating past hits with its heritage line. There are some absolute gems elsewhere in the catalogue. But my mind is Vintage Longins, as it represents the era when the brand was at the top of the game. There is the legendary 13ZN line of chronographs, the age of stunning Art Deco dress watches, and the brand’s contribution to navigation and aviation history that can be read here.
I was proceeding through the list available on Chrono24 and found quite a few suitable options from Longines. At first glance, the brand thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with case shapes in the late 1960s, especially in the 1970s. This must have been because such experiments were trendy at the time.
Image: Chrono24
Vintage Longines ref. 4155
I then came across one list of vintage Longines Refs. 4155. It had a manually twisted caliber L847.4, with simple movements that lacked the hand of seconds. The sellers were in Southeast Asia, but prices were much lower than similar options by Universal Geneva and Cartier. That being said, I knew that I didn’t need it by chance because the 1970s vintage Longins watches are still excellent quality. I decided to jump on it.
This watch has a soft rectangular shape and is more extended than the options I saw from the Universal Geneve. Also, there are not many of the hard angles of vintage Cartier watches I’ve seen. One of the best elements of the design is the integrated Milanese bracelet. This ends with a longin clasp. The watch is 50 years old, but the action on the clasp remains accurate and satisfying. The dial is simple enough, with only the Longin name and logo below 12, with “Swiss Made” at 6am. The elongated Roman numerals adorn the boundaries of the silver linen dial. Overall, the design is minimalist and elegant.
The idea of conclusion
I now have my first “shaped” watch. This will experiment wearing a considerable amount to see if you can get used to such forms. However, as soon as I received it I realized it wasn’t hurting my itching because of something like Cartier’s tank normal. Some things just don’t have a replacement, I guess. And there’s the problem there. My problem with these shaped watches is that the models and desires I really passionate about are relatively uncontrollable. In a way, I go back to squares.
However, it’s hardly a problem that there are cool longins to wear along the journey. I’m grateful to have started this quest of watches shaped to stick to my collection (I don’t think this Longin is). Perhaps you should bite a bullet and save a few years and get a Cartier. Fratelli, what do you think? Are there any recommendations for designing a watch with the shape I should look up? Please let me know in the comments.
