Longines and its department of "let's break just a little bit"

I like the new conquest and I have no problem with my Manly Wrist of 7.25 or 7.5 depends the salt intake …41mm suits it fine

😜

Swatch group brands have a tendency to release a certain size first before they introduce the other size so lets hope they are planning the same thing for the new conquest. A 39mm legend diver no date has been leaked and will be announced pretty soon so they are fixing that one 😉.

Along with the 39mm Zulu that'll probably be added to the catalogue at the same time.

Sometimes we have to remember that the majority of buyers still prefers the large sizes so brands cater to that. As for water resistance they did drop the ball on that beautiful Marine National.

I like these. Hopefully, they will do a reduced size soon (38 or 36).

Just be happy it exists and pray for smaller sizes. Completely agree that a 39 or 38mm would be a game changer for them, making the Conquest the undisputed king of entry level Swiss luxury, and personally I like the finishing of this new Conquest over the the Aqua Terra (much too shiny)

I honestly thought that was the AT until I went in for a closer look.

They are making a 39mm version.

However, the department has lowered the water resistance of all new 2023 models to 100 metres from 300 metres. It is no longer as supremely capable as it once was.

I think one of my learnings from many years of watch collecting is that my preferences are not reflective of the actual target audience of most watch companies.

You are so on point with this post!

However you forgot one thing… “let’s also make them so long lug to lug that the average person can’t wear it!”

I recently made a trip to a Longines AD to try on their offerings… they are objectively attractive. I was sure the Legend Diver would go home with me. Nope… every single watch was either too big or too small. I can’t believe my 6.5” wrist is demographically an outlier.

41mm too big !?! It's just right for me.I have fat 7.5" wrists and bemoan the small watch trend (one man's trash . . .).

My problem isn't the larger cased Longines watches, it's that they have odd sized lug widths. Come on?

Funny you posted this I actually had this up in another tab-

https://www.longines.com/en-us/p/watch-conquest-2023-l3-430-4-72-6

As a woman with a small wrist I like this!

If I am perfectly honest, I would have added another few longines if they come in smaller dial and shorter lugs. 🤷‍♂️

I have the legend diver on my list, I have no problem with 42mm but the lugs were too long and flat making the watch wear large. Plus the lume was ridiculously bad for a dive watch, Longines in general does decent lumen but lacked on the diver. Hope they fix the issues from the last model and a even lug width is a big welcome with this 39mm variant.

I saw these and said the same thing. I can get away with 41 I just like a bit smaller.

On the LLD, that’s actually the same size as the very first vintage LLD.

The Silver Arrow was an egregious example for me. The mid-century style of that watch badly wanted to be 36-38mm but it was 40mm diameter with a 50mm (!) L2L. In Longines' defense, I think they're gradually getting better (the 37mm Spirit was a very, very pleasant surprise) but still have a way to go. Fortunately they are a big beast and have the capacity to put out many iterations of these popular models. It's just a waiting game for the configuration that works for you.

All this downsizing is annoying in my opinion. 41mm is not a big watch. That´s not a dress watch, thats a sports watch, it need´s some size and weight.

But that model has the arabics at 12 and 6, the new model is all indices and has a much more refined (AT style) look.

I suppose you have a small wrist?

Oh a 34mm size too, I wasn't aware, thanks for sharing.

I wonder how the lug to lug wears on a 6.5 - 7" wrist. There's only one way of knowing, and that's a visit to the boutique!

41mm isn't huge. Indeed, the 41mm Brosnan Seamaster from the 1990s is, these days, appraised as being a really nice size and nothing like the hulking divers that came after it. 45mm, for example... THAT'S a large watch. So making these in 41mm seems like a very crowd pleasing size to me. I reckon more blokes would enjoy it at 41 than, say, 38. Because, remember, the people buying this sort of thing includes a ton of normies; people who aren't being told by YouTube videos that itty bitty watches are 'in' this year.

41mm is a good size but the problem with Longines models is the lug design which is usually too long and throws off the overall dimensions. The 40mm Spirit has a 50mm lug to lug, which along with a flat case makes the watch wear larger.

A 39mm Zulu you say 😏

My initial reaction to that case shape is that it looks an awful lot like a Sub. The 41mm size would be spot on then. Methinks Longines did a little bit of homework stealing.

I agree with the general vibe of this thread, though. I've been a Longines lurker for a long time, but something about the dimensions or specs has always kept me from buying.

41mm is mid-size but Longines, like Nomos and some other marques, tend to go with long, flat lugs so that mid-size watch ends up wearing waaay bigger than the stats suggest. Fine for some but even with my 7.25in wrist I don't tend to get a good wearing experience out of anything beyond 47-48mm L2L (some honourable exceptions). Hamilton were somewhat guilty of this but you see them making much more wearable cases in recent years.

I'm totally with you on this. The ultra-cron would be a must buy for me, except for the 43mm size! I truly hope that the comments above about releases for other sizes is correct. I would dearly love to add a smaller size to my collection.

The 34mm green looks like it has diamond markers though. The blue does look like a smaller version if the 41mm without othrr changes.

Yea the Green and Mother of Pearl dial variations have diamonds.

The Brown or Silver dials would be my pick but I kinda wish they had a colour matched date wheel for the brown like they do for the blue in 41mm.

Breaking news! (I mean, as breaking news a watch release can be lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffq0MN929WU