Nice one 👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Great to hear! Very fine watches with some of the best movements ever made 😎

Thanks, Woody! 😁

I know... I recently tried to change that saying, but doubt that I found a good (or even legal) substitute 🤔

Thank you very much, Stuart! More to come, so stay tuned :)

Thanks Gary! Yes, this is a wonderful movement and Longines made quite a few movements of this caliber... 😉

Hi, thanks for that! I am happy to consider servicing your watch, could you take some pictures and send them to stian@vintagewatchservices.eu?

Hello Alan, yes, this is a re-upload of two earlier videos combined into one. It really is a wonderful watch and movement. I'm moving in to my new workshop now and will start making new videos again next week 👍

Always great to move into new workshop, gives you a chance to throw out accumulated junk. And gives that other fellow a reason to finish up that Casio 😉

@@alanmckinnon6791 Got that right! 😂

👍 Longines is indeed a wonderful brand, in particular the watches from back when they made in-house movements. Very, very fine watches.

Glad you like them, Chuck!

Longines really were at the very top back then 👌

Thanks Tiberiu! Longines was such a great company back in the middle of the 20th century, and vintage Longines watches are really top of the crop in my view. Good value for money also :)

Thanks Joe! This was a re-publish of two earlier videos, so I think the camera work has improved since then, but still a way to go. At least now I've started moving in to my new workshop, so I can start making new videos again. So stay tuned!

Thanks John!

😂 Not the best camera work at times, thought I might as well let myself know.

Thank you kindly!

Awesome, thank you! 👍

Couldn't agree more! Vintage Longines' are really fabulous watches both on the inside and outside. Absolutely a top brand.

Absolutely agree! Longines made such great watches back in the day, very much a leading contender.

Great! I still have a half full bag I ordered years ago, so not bad value for the money 😉

Thanks John!

Yep, Longines made some fantastic watches with in house movements back in the day...

Thank you very much!

Yep, Longines dropped down quite a lot but they are showing some great signs of rejuvenation, imo. Some really nice designs in the last few years. Would be great to see them on top again :)

Hello Stu, thanks for watching! The Heritage line looks great in my humble opinion, really paying homage to the originals. The movements however are however not quite as interesting, being ETA 2892 versions... I much prefer the in-house movements Longines made back in the day, they were spectacular pieces of technology from a company at the peak of its powers :)

Gracias, Alfonso!

Longines was such a power player back in the day... Top notch designs with some of the best movements inside. I hope they'll climb back up :)

Yep, Longines was really up there back in those days 💪

Thanks 🤗

Takk skal du ha, Donny! Masse videoer å velge mellom og jeg publiserer nye omtrent hver lørdag.

I actually love cats :) I think they've really figured out how to live their lives 😂

Hello Jim, Longines was very much a leading brand back then, making so many high quality movements. Your watch probably has a very fine movement inside it, considering it still runs ok after not having been serviced for 40 years or more... but it is time for a service for sure! You can contact me on stian@vintagewatchservices.eu, maybe I can do the service for free in exchange for making a video out of it. Send me some pictures of it and we'll discuss :)

Don't cry over spilt milk! :) It's certainly kind of crazy how fast the prices for vintage watches have risen over the last decade or so. Inflation plays a part but I think interest has simply spiked as well.

So you're telling me you have a bad sense of humor? 😉 Yes, I'm certainly a big Python fan! The Far Side is also one of my favorites.

Cool to have you here!

Hello Anthony, can you do me a favor then and share this with your friend: The main downside with rocker systems for changing between winding and time setting is that it takes more space. It also involves more parts, so it's more costly to produce. There is a small wasted movement of the wheels since the wheel you're "rocking to" has to pick up the slack before it can start engaging. That said, visually they're much cooler than the standard sliding pinion, so I think rockers rock (pardon the dad joke, maybe you can tell your friend you made that joke and not me) 😉

@@VintageWatchServices 😂 Thank-you. Great explanation. Even my stupid friend will be able to understand / visualise that! 😁

😂 It's a bit over-engineered for sure :) But a real beauty and great to work on!

The Conquest is one of my absolute favorites! Beautiful design and great movements. Longines made so many top notch watches back in the day so it's hard to make one above others, but I plan to have many more Longines' on the bench. They're probably my favorite vintage brand.

😂

Not sure, to be honest, I just use the standard 1080p setting. I think it's around 20.

@@VintageWatchServices thank you.

Boom!

Hello Holger, thanks for watching! I think what you are referring to are the first automatic chronographs, which was a race between the two parties you mention plus Seiko. The first automatic/self-winding watch was actually made in the 1770's, at that time of course in a pocket watch. Breguet made quite a few self-winding watches also. The first self-winding wristwatch was likely John Harwood's in about 1920.

@@VintageWatchServices Thank you!!

Thanks Vito! More to come, so stay tuned 👍

Hello Jacob, thanks for your question! I don't really think there's a lot of difference in the two approaches and am sure they both work just fine. Once you start using one approach and get comfortable using that, that's the most important thing, I'd think. Some people feel they can see the alignment of the two hands better at 6 o'clock, than at 12 o'clock. Personally I feel that I can adjust the exact position of the minute hand relative to the hour hand with the hour hand at 12 o'clock. It can be difficult to make the hour hand stop precisely at the center of the hour marker, or it might be that you have aligned the hour hand perfectly but that for some reason a couple of minutes pass before you can place the minute hand (I predominantly work on old watches without a hack) . When placing the minute hand with the hour hand at 12 o'clock, if I see that the hour hand is slightly past the hour I can put the minute hand a few minutes past also to make their alignment better. For the tools: I prefer levers myself but the presto tools also work fine. The important thing is that the dial is protected against marks, so there always needs to be something between the tools and the dial to ensure this. Also, the presto tools are actually not very well polished from the factory, which makes them more prone to marking the dial. A few seconds on the polishing machine is enough to alleviate that, though.

Hello Frank, you're quite right, and you find these in some watches. I believe it was originally done to make it easier to inspect the pivots and the oil, but it makes them very difficult to find if you should drop one or even inside the cleaning machine basket. When they make synthetic rubies they typically add a tiny amount of chromium, which gives them the same color as natural rubies. With less or no chromium the rubies will be clear, like these. Which would technically make them sapphires, I believe, but I'm no gemmologist :)

Hello Carl, it's for the same reason that you're more likely to slip if you run on ice than if you walk slowly on it. The automatic system winds the mainspring in very small increments at a time, thus allowing the mainspring to coil up a bit more before slipping. Winding by hand is much more forceful and the mainspring slips more easily as a result. It's all about friction :)

@@VintageWatchServices ah makes sense - thank you 🙏

My pleasure, and I thought I'd just clarify that the amplitude will not change massively, at max probably 10-20 degrees.

Thanks. I have just completed an omega 661 and indeed the amplitude did increase once the automatic module was added. It now sits at 290 - 310 from about 270 Just waiting for the dial to come back from restoration and it can be re cased and given to my wife for her birthday 🎉

It could be in any position but I generally prefer having it all the way in.

So, if I wanted to take the stem out and change it without disassembling the movement, I would keep the stem in the winding position?

Hello Pablo, I think it is about 11-12mm with the crystal. I don't have the watch here anymore so cannot measure it but it's not very thick.

Well, a dial can be cleaned but only of dust and surface debris. 99.9% of the aging effect on a dial cannot be removed without repainting the entire dial. It's kind of like if you have freckles, you cannot clean them off, they're in the skin.

@@VintageWatchServices yes if just like the dust cleaned, hands and crystal. They don't seem to want to touch the movement which is a shame. I'll see how it runs with a new crown. Then it might need to get sent elsewhere...

Hello John, there are tons of books out there, but perhaps a recommendation would be the "The Theory of Horology". I just looked it up and the prices are insane right now, which flabbergasted me 😳 If you search watchmaking on Amazon, you should find other books, and choosing the best reviewed ones would give you a good start. When/if you get more serious about it, the British Horological Institute's Distance Learning Course provides fantastic information in a course format.

👍 It's a very cool system, albeit a bit overengineered... But these old Longines' are just superb.

Very nice to hear you have your grandpa's watch 🤗 Longines was all the way up there with the best back in the day and it is indeed a shame they've been "demoted" a bit in the Swatch hierarchy. I think they're making some cool watches again now though, so maybe there's hope they'll rise up again!

Hi, thanks for your question! The barrels were indeed intended to be replaced at service. That worked well as long as they actually made spare barrels, but not so much after that... The barrel can for sure be opened, but as you assume there is a greater risk of damaging it when opening it and trying to reassemble it. Which isn't necessarily a big thing if you have a spare, but if you don't, you might want to see if the old one works alright before attempting it 😉

@@VintageWatchServices Thanks very much!

Thanks Steve!

🤔

Thanks for watching and for your comment! Yep, Longines was absolutely one of the giants in watchmaking back in the day, and it's a bit sad they're no longer quite there. They're not entirely an entry brand though, and there are some signs they are starting to flex their muscles. It would be very nice to see them challenge Omega and Rolex again :)

Then you'll hear a voice from up above say: "down on your knees!" 😂

"Love is a battlefield", I've been told

Or how big the cat is 😁

Hello Ale, thanks for watching! Longines is probably better described as mid-tier indeed, but it also depends on what you consider luxury watches. On their website, the Swatch group lists Longines after Omega but before Rado, Tissot etc. The main takeaway was meant to be that back in the day Longines was a very high level brand and that vintage Longines watches are among the finest you can buy, offering a comparatively good value for money.

Thanks for the masterclass in constructive criticism, Philip!