Worth a Service?

Square crystals are trickier to find but by no means impossible. I don't know about that specific Longines one. A watchmaker who knows their stuff about vintage watches should be able to advise.

Probably. I know I was similarly concerned on the chipped crystal of my high-domed rectangular 1950's Bulova, but @Aurelian let me know about this reference and I found a new one for like $10.

https://www.gssupplies.com/vintage-crystals

I always encourage anyone to visit a watchmaker or two or three for an estimate.

Def worth the service IMHO (I am speaking without knowing the cost however). Good Luck!

Any idea how to determine how old this might be?

Great potential, every time a watch is repaired an Angel gets its dings...

I just did a Google image search and found some similar said to be around 1956.

Definitely consult a good repair person or three. The back will need to be removed and there is likely some identifying numbers inside that can help identify and date it.

What level of service if any is very much dependent upon your intent.

I got a similar piece from my mother that was her father's watch. Found it to be a 1938 Hamilton. It's very small, and I would have no intention of wearing it. There's also the patina to consider.. and mine is as yours shows "gold filled" which will not polish well iirc as that will remove material and there's just not that much to spare.

That being said, a replacement crystal and band may make all the difference even if you only intend to keep or display it.

That's an interesting and beautiful piece! Good luck!

Yes!

Have it serviced. It's worth it.

Yes, get it sorted! You're lucky that it's not only an inherited sentimental piece,but it beautiful too 😍👏🏻👏🏻

my honest opinion, I would not invest money in it, it seems to me to be an expensive operation.

Unless of course it has an emotional value to you, then I would do it, but only then.

A hundred per cent! That crystal might prove tricky to source, but it's definitely possible. That's an absolute cracker of a watch, I'm wishing you the best of luck!

You need to get the crystal done so I would ask the watchmaker to give it the once over. If it just needs a service no problem but it could become expensive if too much is broken.

Start with the crystal. Ask a reputable watchmaker to source the crystal for you. Once you have a replacement crystal, replacing the old one will be part of the service cost.

Ask him or her how much the service would cost. If it's in your budget, then there's no reason you shouldn't do it. Ryan is right, that's an absolute cracker of a watch!

I think it is worth having a watch maker take a look.

I've heard (I'm not sure where) that 10K gold filled watches were usually US market versions, but the crystal and movement should be standard. If it is sized similar to today's Cartier tanks, it should make a great dress piece (and have the added bonus of sentimental value).

So, I took this problem to my watchmaker:

I had been looking for a crystal (glass, not acrylic) for about a year. He said, "I will order one if I need to, but I collect a lot of them, especially the old ones, just in case."

He called me a few days later: "You won't believe this but the first one in the drawer fit it perfectly."

Watchmakers have resources. This repair cost me little.

Is it worth it? It is not some generic brand hobbled together in the a New York warehouse in 1950 from parts from all over. It is a Longines. At the time, Longines was as good as most Americans could buy. They were considerably closer to the top of luxury than they are today. As a consequence, that watch has retained more value than any Bulova, Wittnauer, Elgin, or Hamilton. Every dollar spent on restoring that watch will be kept in value. If it takes $400 to put it right you have a watch that would sell for more with a retailer. You could probably get a quarter of that on eBay with no improvements.

It is an easy call (for me at least).

Got it back today. The watchmaker was able to find the correct crystal. It was tricky because the original was not flat nor domed but had “peaks” running horizontal and vertical across the face. They are hard to see in the photograph. He said the first one he got from his supplier had the peaks running from corner to corner in an “X”. He knew I wanted the correct one so he sent it back and got the correct one.

I told him to just replace the crystal and hold off on a full service ($300). When I took it in to see if he could find a crystal he showed me a similar Longines in solid 14k that he had just taken in. It’s also getting a new crystal and a full service. I may be getting that one too instead of spending the money on this one.

So now mine is running and I’ll start to look for a suitable strap. And I need to decide if I want the other one. He offered a decent price…I don’t think it’s the kind of thing most of his clients buy and he could tell I like these vintage watches.

It sure looks better, doesn’t it?

Here is the 14k Longines. He cracked the crystal when he installed it so another one is on the way…

I love the engraving on that Bulova case.