Longines is moving on up

Longines has been on fire lately with many hits such as the Ultrachron ( yes the ultrachron is a watch not a bad guy from thunder cats), Zulu time, and legend diver. They are gaining popularity among enthusiasts and are finally retrieving some of the glory they had in their golden age. What is striking to me though is just how much of the market share they have been capturing. Rolex still dominated the entire watch market but Longines is leading IWC, VC, and Breitling. This is something I didn’t expect and I’m excited to see how this brand grows into the future.

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Lmao haha that’s too bad. In pictures and videos it looks so good and that high beat even sounds good! It’s annoying when the sales people are so out of touch you know more about watches than they do or they can’t read you well and are pushing something you clearly don’t want. I agree that watch is so cool. I own one longines, a Hydroconquest

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Longines has always been popular and market share is actually going down (source: Morgan Stanley and WorldWatchReport)

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K.evin

Longines has always been popular and market share is actually going down (source: Morgan Stanley and WorldWatchReport)

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Thanks for sharing. I had no idea they were so popular I feel up until a few years ago they weren’t nearly coveted as much

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Watchandunwind

Thanks for sharing. I had no idea they were so popular I feel up until a few years ago they weren’t nearly coveted as much

No problem! I thought this industry was more stagnant til I started digging into it. It looked as if Omega was number 1 and Longines was number 2 in the 2010s while Rolex steadily overtook the two starting in 2012 (don’t quote me as I didn’t diligently research this). Which is wild to think about today!

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It’s nuts that RM can make such insane revenue with few watches. Not a fan of the brand, but I bet many would trade places, especially if we compared overall production costs.

Lastly, let’s remind ourselves, Apple sold over 50 million watches in 2022.

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Longines have always been very popular in Asian markets. Produced in high volume at relatively reasonable prices - it's probably not a big surprise.

In terms of their back-catalogue, there is so much variety, that they'll never be short of models that they can reissue, to appeal to enthusiasts.

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sohne.friends.and.cie

Longines have always been very popular in Asian markets. Produced in high volume at relatively reasonable prices - it's probably not a big surprise.

In terms of their back-catalogue, there is so much variety, that they'll never be short of models that they can reissue, to appeal to enthusiasts.

I think I was unaware just how popular they were in places other than the United States. I agree they definitely have an amazing back catalogue. I wish a lot more brands would dig through their achieves like that and stay truthful to the original as they do

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We watch folk in the enthusiast bubble often lose sight of the larger view of the watch industry. Longines is a great example - the watches marketed to us lately have been killers so we imagine the brand is doing well - but in truth they are losing marketshare rapidly.

Tudor is similar - by the airtime they get in watch media you assume they are huge, maybe top 5, certainly top 10 brands in the world. Nope, while they had a great run they've ground to a halt and now are locked in 15th.

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Pete_NSOW

We watch folk in the enthusiast bubble often lose sight of the larger view of the watch industry. Longines is a great example - the watches marketed to us lately have been killers so we imagine the brand is doing well - but in truth they are losing marketshare rapidly.

Tudor is similar - by the airtime they get in watch media you assume they are huge, maybe top 5, certainly top 10 brands in the world. Nope, while they had a great run they've ground to a halt and now are locked in 15th.

100% by what’s covered the most you would assume that Tudor would be right behind Rolex. This is pretty crazy to think about. It actually makes me worry that some of these brands I really like may go out of business in my lifetime if they just can’t sell

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I think this year they will have hydroconquest GMTs as well

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Mbgrey

I think this year they will have hydroconquest GMTs as well

That would be really cool. They could probably use some flair in that range since all of their other ranges have been kicking so much a$$ they need to show the good old Hydroconquest some love.

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Watchandunwind

That would be really cool. They could probably use some flair in that range since all of their other ranges have been kicking so much a$$ they need to show the good old Hydroconquest some love.

I was at an AD and he accidentally showed me a 2023 catalog and I’m pretty sure I saw them and with new colors. I was surprised that I didn’t see anything this week at Watches and Wonders. For instance, and chocolate colored Zulu time

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I have a Dolce vita and love the Zulu Time and a quite a few others in their back catalogue… definitely a great Watch company, good to see them on the rise once again .

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Longines has been at the top of the top of the watch industry for over 100 years. A 1923 Longines was probably more desirable in its time than a 2023 Longines today. I remember back in the early 1970’s that Longines Wittnauer watches were marketed as the height of luxury. Longines was the first watch brand I knew as a child. This is back when Rolex were still tools, before the rise of solid gold banker’s Rolex. Longines place in the Swatch hierarchy does not reflect its historical place in the market.

I’ve become a huge fan of Longines over the years and I think the sales figures reflect the quality/ value of the brand.

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I knew about their history but I guess that I didn’t realize they still moved so many watches compared to everyone else

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I am starting to really rate them , I can see them becoming a lot more popular in the next few years,

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catfancy

I am starting to really rate them , I can see them becoming a lot more popular in the next few years,

For sure

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Tudor's position is definitely the most shocking to me!