Promotion: Longines Heritage 1942 Chronograph 180th Anniversary Steel Watch

Promotion: Longines Heritage 1942 Chronograph 180th Anniversary Steel Watch

Longines keep churning out new members of their recent 180th Anniversary collection. Sporting the same basic design, which is clearly inspired by classic Longines Heritage 1942 Chronograph copy watches, the new Longines Heritage 1942 180th Anniversary Chronograph (Ref. L2.768.4.13/53) doesn’t really kick bottom parts neither in terms of exterior design nor technical features, but may still be a very nice choice for a man looking for a moderately classy, yet affordable chronograph from a reputable watchmaking brand. The similarities between the models include not only almost identical hands and numerals, as well as the railway-style minute tracks, but also bring in the same massive bezel that somehow suffocates the dial of the piece.

Longines Heritage 1942 180th Anniversary Chronograph watch replica
Longines Heritage 1942 180th Anniversary Chronograph watch replica

The size differential (at 40 mm in diameter the chronograph is about 1.5 mm wider than the small seconds model) doesn’t help much since the extra space is taken by the inevitable tachymeter scale that looks absolutely superfluous in this particular case.

Like many other Longines chronographs, this new Heritage 1942 model is animated by their well-known Longines L688.2 automatic movement.

Based on the relatively new ETA A08.231 ebauche, the column-wheel chronograph movement replaces the legendary ETA Valjoux 7750 caliber while giving you 54 hours of power reserve and a pretty hassle-free operation. The price of this thing is yet to be revealed, but one can make an educated guess and say that it will probably cost around $3500 after arriving to official stores (that of course will depend on the part of the world you live in: in some countries that still employ very high custom duties in order to protect their (virtually nonexistent) industry it will probably be as high as $5000.)

As you can see, the new fake Longines Heritage 1942 watch features the same general styling as their recent Longines Heritage 1940 Small Seconds (Ref. L2.767.4.13/53.2) watch that we have briefly reviewed less than two weeks ago.

See also: Longines Saint-Imier Automatic Chronograph (Ref. L2.753.5.52/72.7)

Photos: Longines

Longines Heritage 1942 180th Anniversary Chronograph (Ref. L2.768.4.13/53) watch specification

Price: Approx. $3500
Movement: Automatic, caliber Longines L688.2, base ETA A08.231, Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 27
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 54 hours
Movement decoration: No data
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph
Case material: Stainless steel
Bezel material: Matches case
Crown material: Matches case
Case shape: Round
Bezel shape: Round
Case size: 40.00 mm
Case height: No data
Lug width: No data
Dial: Black (pictured) / White
Numerals: Arabic, applied
Hour markers: Printed railway-style minute track
Hands: Leaf-shaped; Blued or rhodium-treated (pictured) steel
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Black alligator leather strap with contrast stitching and steel buckle
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Case back: Sapphire

The good thing is that the best Longines copy watch is still very legible, although I don’t really understand why they leaved the 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock (it also shares its space with a standard date window) without any numerals.