Longines x Hodinkee Zulu Time : Another Beautiful Tease
First off, I’ll preface this mini-rant with an acknowledgment that these are the most first-world of first-world problems, “boohoo, I want a watch I can’t have.” There are folks with far bigger problems than my complaints about man-jewelry availability.
That being said:
I love Longines, and as a big fan of the Explorer II family of GMT designs, I think this Longines x Hodinkee Zulu Time is absolutely gorgeous. The stainless steel bezel is <chef’s kiss> perfection. But unfortunately, as a limited edition, I just can’t get excited about this release. And it feels like there’s a lot of that going around these days.
What’s especially frustrating, is that at that $4k price point, it’s right at the point where, even if I was serious about buying one, I’d be looking at saving up for about a year… which, given that it’s a “limited edition”, means I’d be out of luck.
I feel like it betrays Longines’ status as the last bastion of affordable luxury watches. And the kicker is, if I were to save up that kind of cash, I’d probably end up getting a pre-owned Black Bay Pro, an arguably better watch anyway.
I get it. Businesses need to turn a profit, no hate there. But it feels like there’s an ever-increasing squeeze on the average enthusiast; between rising prices and artificially-restricted availability, we simply cannot get the watches we want for love or money, just because we don’t represent the primary consumer base for most of these brands. Yes, even the stalwart champion of affordable watch enthusiasts, Seiko has been moving models and collections “up market” (while simultaneously lowering spec might I add), milking the limited edition cash cow hard, as well as releasing several over-priced reissues… all limited edition, of course.
Maybe I’m just salty. But when I hear about guys who picked up a Speedy or even an Explorer a number of years ago, for what this Longines retails for, it can’t help but sour me on the state of the watch industry. I know watches are an expensive, non-essential hobby to begin with, and “expensive” is incredibly subjective… but it does feel like even the seemingly “entry level” brands are just toying with those of us who can’t make multiple-thousand dollar impulse purchases.
The silver lining seems to be that the affordable end of the market is being back-filled by really great microbrands and independents like Christopher Ward, Studio Underdog, Lorier, Nivada Grenchen, Farer, Maen (who do a particularly nice stainless steel bezel GMT themselves, for $900) just to name a few... These brands (the good ones at least) really seem like they strive to put out enthusiast-centric designs, made to a high standard, and priced realistically. Not to mention, if there’s limited availability, it’s usually due to production limitations— not manufactured scarcity.
Just a man with a few too many watches…
Pretty spot on assessment. Inflation is getting out of hand, everything is getting overpriced - not just watches.
The "Limited edition" is a desperate attempt to get more sales. Damn shame, that is a beautiful watch.
It’s the Hodinkee markup, unfortunately
This hits the mark Andrew
💯 I was literally discussing this the other day - limited release watches with price-tags of a few thousand, where most of us would be customers if we had time to save up but simply don't have the means to make a sudden purchase. It's a bit frustrating, and I don't really see who the market is for these stunts, at least in general. If I have the ability to pull the trigger on a $4k spur-of-the-moment purchase before it sells out, then in truth I'm probably wearing items around $10k or more. Why, then, would I desire a watch a few layers lower in features, status, etc?
I'm clearly missing the point of these releases (beyond the fact that they sell out most of the time, so what the hell do I know?)
Pretty spot on. Got into watches relatively recently and as my career and earnings go up and my goal watch(es) become a possibility, they quickly disappear again even further away than before.
It’s quite frustrating.
Every six months the Speedy bumps further out of sight. And watching YT videos about how affordable it used to be only makes it land harder!
💯 I was literally discussing this the other day - limited release watches with price-tags of a few thousand, where most of us would be customers if we had time to save up but simply don't have the means to make a sudden purchase. It's a bit frustrating, and I don't really see who the market is for these stunts, at least in general. If I have the ability to pull the trigger on a $4k spur-of-the-moment purchase before it sells out, then in truth I'm probably wearing items around $10k or more. Why, then, would I desire a watch a few layers lower in features, status, etc?
I'm clearly missing the point of these releases (beyond the fact that they sell out most of the time, so what the hell do I know?)
Exactly! It’s a strange contradiction. Too expensive (on an impulse) for the people who would want it, too “entry level” for the people who can afford it. Haha
Exactly! It’s a strange contradiction. Too expensive (on an impulse) for the people who would want it, too “entry level” for the people who can afford it. Haha
I think this sums up well why manufacturers persistently move up-market.
Just set up an eBay search for this. One will turn up eventually. Probably for a discount.
It’s the nicest Longines I’ve seen for a while
It's a shame that #longines missed the mark here.
They've done a lot right lately. But a homage to the Explorer 2 or is it the BB Pro 🤔 for this overpriced price is not really helpful but rather harmful in my opinion.
I'd rather buy a normal ZuluTime (I paid less than 3k for mine) and still have a COSC certification.
Times like these I appreciate Seiko's philosophy of making LE's in the thousands and at a drop of a hat. If you really want it, you can get it and unless they put a L series movement in it, it's not that pricey too.
Replace “watches” with “houses” and you are still on the same track. The state of money is wild.
First of all it’s a nice looking watch with all its features no doubt. Hard to deal with the over price on some of these. Sometimes might be better of buy a second hand used in good condition than new.
I am a big fan of Longines watches, but this one I am going to pass.
There is no escape that the watche has many similarities with the offerings from Rolex and Tudor.
What I fear is that many will get it as a cheaper alternative of Rolex and Tudor rather than appreciating it as the modern release of the original 1925 Longines dual time-zone watch.