Longines Legend Diver Date

The Submariner and the Seamaster aren’t the only stars of the dive watch world.

In the 1960s, Longines made beautiful divers housed in oversized “compressor” cases. 42mm wide and featuring dual crowns — one to adjust the time and one to turn the internal bezel — these special cases became more watertight the deeper one dove. Brilliant! Now, it’s worth noting from a technical standpoint that the compressor case wasn’t any better at preventing water intrusion than a screw-down crown. But it was one attempt at improving the functionality of a watch that was, first and foremost, built to do a job. Despite their functional limitations — and due to their good looks — compressor cased-watches proved to be popular during the 1960s.

The modern Longines Legend Diver is based on vintage Longines compressor-cased divers from the golden age of SCUBA. This particular watch, the Reference L3.674.4, has been updated ever so slightly with a date wheel at 3 o’clock, which only adds to the piece’s utility. Housed in a 42mm, stainless steel compressor-style case with dual crowns, it features a black lacquered dial with stylized Arabic indices, an open minute track and vintage-colored lume. An internal timing bezel features Arabic indices at the cardinal points and a fully graduated minute scale, while a particularly legible handset including an arrow-shaped minute hand makes for quick registering of the time. 

In excellent condition throughout and showing only light wear, this Legend Diver is finished with sapphire crystal, a screw-down case back, 30m of water resistance, and the Longines Caliber L888 automatic movement with 72 hours of power reserve. It comes paired to a brown, vintage-style leather strap with a brushed steel pin buckle, though it could just as easily be right at home on a NATO, beads-of-rice, perlon, or other strap. 

If what you’re searching for is a dive watch that doesn’t look like everybody else’s, you’ve come to the right place!

Founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, Longines was at the sharp end of the watchmaking spear during the beginnings of modern horology. Constantly innovating, the company devised some of the most important wristwatches of the 20th century. Indeed, by 1919, Longines was the official supplier of timepieces for the International Aeronautical Federation, working to develop highly accurate navigation chronometers for many of the era's great aviation pioneers.
Most famous among Longines' forays into navigation pieces is the Lindbergh Hour Angle watch, a wristwatch designed by famed aviator Charles Lindberg in conjunction with the brand to allow aviators to calculate, with the help of a sextant and a known latitude, their exact geographic location.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, Longines also released a series of stunning time-only watches. Often referred to as “Calatravas” after the iconic model by Patek Philippe, most of these watches had thin stainless steel cases at 32-35mm, standard sizes for the time. Like the Patek Philippe Calatrava, these timepieces were known for their perfect proportions and the elegant simplicity of their designs.

But it wasn’t just time-only watches that drew the attention of clients the world over — particularly in the Americas: The company’s caliber 13ZN, first released in 1936, is widely regarded as one of the finest chronograph movements ever devised by any brand. This development would form the basis of work in sports timing, in which Longines developed timepieces with flyback functionality as well as 1/100th-second counters.

Today, Longines produces a remarkable number of watches annually — over 1.5 million of them — and rakes in over $1B in annual revenue through the sale of everything from simple quartz watches to sophisticated moon phases and chronographs. Incredibly, they produced their 51 millionth timepiece in 2019 and in some ways, it feels like the brand is just getting started.

Our Pledge

Analog:Shift stands behind the authenticity of our products in perpetuity.

Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a one-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.