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My Reaction to the Longines Heritage 1973
In Response To: Speaking of Camaros, Check This Longines Re-Issue ()

A couple of reactions to the new Longines Heritage 1973:

  • To my eye, and based only on these photos, the watch is way too busy; looking at either the original Longines Conquest in the cushion case, or the Camaros, Longines has taken a simple, clean 1960s design, and loaded it with all types of 1970s style noise -- fat hands; hash marks everywhere; etc.
  • The light-dialed version looks better than the black-dialed one.
  • Use of the Conquest style and "Heritage 1973" model name is interesting. Yes, Longines made a nice-looking cushion-cased Conquest in 1973, but the model name has been used, misused and overused, for a crazy array of Longines watches . . . dress watches, sports watches . . . Historically, Longines seems to use the "Conquest" name because "Miscellaneous" is too long to fit on the dial. Not sure there is much goodwill left in the Conquest model name, which might explain why it is called the "Heritage 1973", another name that must have been too long to fit on the dial.
  • I have no information about the fit and finish, but it looks like a decent deal, in the $3,000 range . . . if you like the looks
  • Yes, I wish TAG Heuer had done a re-issue of the Camaro, but if it had looked like this new Longines, I would not be applauding the effort.

I am wearing a Camaro today; it has a tachymeter scale on the dial, hash-marks for the 1/5 seconds and three registers . . . but I can assure you that everything about the Camaro is clean and understated -- even elegant -- compared with the mish-mash of marks, lines and numerals now bearing the legendary "Conquest" name. The Camaro evokes the style of the 1960s . . . the Heritage 1973 evokes the style of the early 1970s . . . enuf said.

Be sure to check the Hodinkee review, to see the very pretty Conquest from 1973.

Jeff

[photo courtesy of Hodinkee]

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