Few brands have managed to harness both vintage and modern styles with their individual timepieces like Longines. From its heritage-inspired divers and pilot’s watches to the ones that aim to be a classic for the current age of watchmaking, the Swiss icon has truly perfected both ends of the spectrum, and even certain levels in between. That’s why we get excited when the brand unveils a new watch for us, such as this updated version of its Legend Diver, which certainly nails the retro aesthetic.
For many watch wearers, the target case size is about 39mm — large enough for some solid wrist presence but not too bulky that it becomes a nuisance to wear all day long. Longines’ Legend Diver has already been offered in 42mm and 36mm varieties, but fans have been waiting for a happy medium. With its latest release, the vintage-inspired compression diver based on the 1959 original lands perfectly in the middle at 39mm while also dropping the lug-to-lug by over 5mm — all while retaining the same 300m of water resistance as before.
Also getting a revamp is the case design, which features both brushed and polished finishing and a sloped dive bezel that blends nearly seamlessly into the dial and can be rotated with the topmost crown. Available in two dial colors — black and blue — the Legend Diver improves the lume from its predecessor for better low-light visibility and also gives you a choice of straps. You can now opt to swap out the stainless steel rice bead bracelet for that of leather (for the black version) or a blue NATO strap (for the blue version). Longines also updates the movement to an in-house caliber L888.6 automatic, improving the power reserve from 60 to 72 hours.
Priced starting at $3,000, the Legend Diver 39mm is now currently available from Longines’ website.
