This is a bit of a weird article, and the title confirms it. Longines is one of the best mid-tier/entry-level luxury brands out there. This is well known, and everyone is in agreement that Longines is one of the best brands out there, especially for the price you are paying. But I would argue that despite all the love they get, they are still underappreciated.

The only thing I can say that is bad about Longines is that they have the same problems as Seiko and Omega. They just have too many watches. The Longines catalog is huge. If you go to their website, you will find hundreds of different watches currently in production. It is good to have variety, but this is what I would call overwhelming.

But as we so often do, let’s start with a history lesson.

In the Jura mountains, there is a small town named St. Imier, which currently has only around 5.000 inhabitants. Back in 1832, the Longines brand was founded in this small town, the name is drawn from the empty spot of land on which their first factory was built. St. Imier is a big town in terms of watchmaking, as in 1884, Breitling was also founded there, though they were quick to move away.

Longines has always been big on innovation, for instance, making the first twin time watch in 1925, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the first twin time. They have made three new Spirit Zulu watches. We will go into greater detail on the new Spirit Zulu pieces later today. Almost a half century before they made the first chronograph, which was of course a pocket watch, this helped with the equestrian nature of the brand, as you could often see riders use these chronographs.

Longines was one of the best watch brands out there, and quality-wise wise they were on the level of some of the best in the world. You could make the case of them being on the level of Patek Phillipe, Vacheron Constantin, and better than Rolex. In the wake of the quartz crisis, they became part of the SWATCH group. At this point, SWATCH had to make a decision: either push Longines as the premium brand or push Omega. SWATCH chose the latter; has it paid off? Yes, I still would have loved to see them push Longines, as I consider them to be a much richer brand than Omega.

Despite being pushed as an entry-mid luxury brand by SWATCH, being a part of the conglomerate has its perks. For one, they own one of the best-known and trusted caliber manufacturers in ETA, and since they are a part of the same company, technically all of Longines’ calibers are in-house. Since they also own the means of production throughout the entire process, they are able to price their watches exceptionally well in regards to quality.

Design-wise wise they have a good blend of modern and vintage. If you want modern, look at the Hydroconquest, Spirit Zulu, and the re-invented conquest line they released in 2024. Personally, I prefer their vintage-inspired pieces, especially those within the Conquest Heritage collection as well as the Master Collection. This may be because I have experience with the master collection, owning the 190th anniversary edition in the salmon/copper color. I got that piece to celebrate graduating high school, and I have been very happy with it.

But I don’t think I would call it my favorite piece from Longines at the moment. That honor goes to the Longines Conquest Heritage central power reserve with the cream color dial; this is also the watch that inspired me to make this article. I tried this watch on when I was in Lisbon in February, and I have been unable to get it out of my mind ever since. Looks wise it is one of the most elegant watches not just from Longines, or on the market but this is one of the most beutiful and elegant watches I have ever layed eyes on. The best part is you can get this incredible watch for only 3.800 CHF.

But let’s say for some reason you don’t want that watch and you want something more sporty, the Spirit Zulu is only 3.000 CHF and the three new 100th anniversary editions are phenominal, for me the blue bezel, black dial version is the best, but I think you can definitly make a case for the rosegold bezel version, the open caseback on that piece is beutifully decorated.

If you then want something in a completely different style, you can have the Carbon Ultra-chron. The connection with ambassadors is also beautiful, as they have the ultimate gentleman in Henry Cavill as their primary ambassador.

I would argue that if you want to have a one-brand collection, they are right up there with the best of them. I would say they sit much higher than Seiko/Grand Seiko, and they sit higher for me than Rolex, mainly due to the community of people who only collect Rolex. You can completely stay within the Longines ecosystem and be extremely content with a fantastic watch collection.