Is Longines A Luxury Brand? Here’s What You Need To Know
Longines is a top watch brand with countless beautiful watches on offer, but is it luxury? We’re answering the question is Longines a luxury brand to give you all the details that you need to know.
You may have spotted the stunning Longines adverts including Rege-Jean Page and Jennifer Lawrence wearing their Longines watches, perhaps making you tempted to pick up one for yourself! The Swiss brand, Longines, is world renowned for its chic and high-quality watches for both men and women, with a wide range of styles on offer to suit any personal style, but is it a luxury brand?
Some consider Longines to be luxury because of some of the expensive price tags and Swiss craftsmanship, while others do not see Longines as a luxury brand because of the materials used in their watches.
To answer the question, is Longines a luxury brand, we will look at the history of the brand, and the quality of the Longines watches before taking a look at some of the best-selling watches from Longines before coming to a conclusion on whether Longines is a luxury brand. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about this Swiss watch brand!
Is Longines a luxury brand?
The History of Longines
Longines is a recognizable Swiss watch brand with a long history, founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832 under the name Raiguel Jeune & Cie in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, where the company’s headquarters still stands. Agassiz soon brought his nephew, Ernest Francillon, into the brand, who looked to enterprise and innovate this watchmaker to distinguish it from its competitors.
In the 1860s, the Longines brand was passed onto Francillon, who implemented modern production methods and established a factory in Les Longines, which translates to long meadows, in Switzerland, and soon the watchmaking brand changed its name to Longines.
The incredible designs and engineering carried out by Francillon and his team won them an innovative movement award at the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1878, Longines developed its first chronograph movement and then soon created stopwatches that were soon used for high-precision timing in equestrian sports.
The brand continued to innovate into the 20th century, creating wristwatches, aviation watches alongside Charles Lindbergh, and a timekeeping instrument called the Longines Chronocinegines. Still to this day, Longines is the official timekeeper for the Commonwealth Games, Alpine Ski World Cup, Archery World Cup, and the French Open.
Longines watches have been worn by Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Albert Einstein, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kate Winslet over the years, so why not pick up a Longines watch for yourself?
The quality of Longines
To help us work out whether Longines is a luxury brand, we need to analyze the quality of the Longines brand through the price range, materials, and craftsmanship of its watches – so let’s get started.
1. Price range
The price range is a great place to start as it means you can compare the price point of Longines with other, well-established luxury brands. Longines women’s watches are available for between $825 and $7,100, while men’s watches range between $825 and $8,200.
This price range is relatively affordable in the context of watches from other luxury brands – for example, Bvlgari watches range between $3,350 and $77,000, Cartier watches retail from $2,610 to $279,000, while Van Cleef and Arpels watches are available for between $7,400 and $448,000.
Since Longines watches start under $1,000, and are no more expensive than $10,000, this brand is considered more affordable and perhaps does not qualify for the status of luxury in the fashion and jewelry world.
2. Materials
There is a limited range of materials used in Longines watches, making it easy to analyze the quality of materials used by this Swiss brand. Most Longines watches have a stainless steel case, which is relatively affordable and hardwearing, to make sure all watches really stand the test of time.
To achieve a rose gold or yellow gold finish on some watches, they often have a PVD coating to change the color of the stainless steel – this is the same technique used by other watch brands, such as Tissot. All Longines watches have a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face to protect your watch, while some also have an anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal to make it easy to read the time in any light.
At the higher price points, you may see some 18 karat pink gold used for cases for a more luxurious finish. The leather straps on Longines watches are often listed as an alligator strap – this is pretty ambiguous and does not tell us what type of leather is used and if the alligator finish has been embossed into the leather.
These materials are high quality and durable but are perhaps not as luxurious as the materials used in Cartier, Bvlgari or Patek Philippe watches, where platinum, white gold, yellow gold, and exotic leather are often used in the creation of their watches.
There are a few Longines watches with diamond embellishments, to add an extra luxurious element to the timepiece. Cartier, Rolex, and Audemars Piguet watches can also be decorated with diamonds, but these diamonds are usually much larger and more of a statement, to add lots of extra glamour and sparkle to these luxury watches.
3. Craftsmanship
The craftsmanship of a watch is very important and highly regarded, so let’s take a look at the craftsmanship of Longines watches. This Swiss brand is very proud of the fact that all Longines watches are certified as Swiss Made.
The Made in Switzerland label is highly regarded, so there are certain criteria a watch must meet in order for it to be considered Swiss Made: 60% of the production costs by be Swiss-based, the movement must include at least 60% Swiss made components, and the technical development of the watch and its movement must be carried out in Switzerland.
Longines fits all of these criteria since their watches are made in St-Imier, Switzerland. The watchmakers are highly trained to create top-quality watches using a mix of traditional and innovative methods to ensure each watch is made to the highest standard.
Best Selling Longines watches
There are a plethora of gorgeous watches available from Longines, so we have brought together some of the best-selling options to help you find a new watch to add to your collection! There are lots of different styles to choose from so there is bound to be a Longines watch that suits your personal style.
1. Conquest Watches
This Longines Conquest Bracelet Watch is a classic and timeless option, that is ideal for everyday wear. This Conquest Watch is crafted from stainless steel with a sleek and minimalist look, including a white dial, handy date window, and luminous time markers to make reading the time easy in low light conditions.
The watch has a three-hand Swiss quartz movement for a high-quality finish and is water resistant up to 300 meters. Pick up this elegant and versatile watch for just $825.
The Longines HydroConquest Automatic Bracelet Watch was designed for diving enthusiasts, making it an excellent choice if you love being the water swimming and diving! This watch has a bold, eye-catching look, with the stainless steel case contrasting with the striking black face and bezel.
There are lots of super practical features on this watch, including a unidirectional bezel, Super-LumiNova hands and time markers, a date window, and a sturdy bracelet, ideal for diving and swimming – plus the watch is water resistant up to 300 meters.
2. Striking designs
Longines also offers some more distinctive designs, such as this polished and refined Longines DolceVita Bracelet Watch, with a sleek rectangular shape. This watch was added to the Longines collection in 1997 and has remained a best-selling design ever since.
The slim case is crafted from glossy stainless steel and finished with a sparkling silver flinqué dial and a sapphire crystal face. The dial is decorated with blue steel hands and Roman numeral time markers for a vintage touch.
We love the striking silhouette of this Longines Evidenza Automatic Bracelet Watch – inspired by the elegance and freedom of the 1920s. The watch has a delicate chain link bracelet with a gently curved face, framed by a shiny bezel and finished with a flinqué etched dial, featuring a handy date window at the 6 o’clock mark.
The cobalt blue Arabic numbers and long blue hands really pop against the dial for a stunning look. This watch is powered by a Swiss automatic movement and retails for $2,175.
3. Diamond Watches
Add a little more sparkle to your look with one of these luxurious diamond watches. This Longines Master Collection Automatic Diamond Bracelet Watch has so many gorgeous features that make this watch extra special.
The stainless steel bracelet is punctuated by a round, stainless steel bezel with a mother-of-pearl dial in the center, in a white shade that shimmers in the light. The time markers are dainty diamonds, while the dial is finished with sleek silver hands and a moon phase tracker. Sapphire crystal covers the back so you get a glimpse into the movement of this watch.
If you are looking for a watch with a minimalist, yet still glam, look, then this Longines La Grande Classique de Longines Diamond Bracelet Watch is just perfect for you. This beautiful watch has a stunning look, crafted from shiny stainless steel with a chain link bracelet and circular face, embellished with 44 sparkling diamonds around the bezel.
The dial is a glistening mother of pearl, with 12 diamonds as time markers and slim long black hands that really stand out against the white face. This watch is simple enough to be worn every day but will add a twinkling element to your look.
Conclusion
Longines watches are stunning, so stylish, and high-quality too, making them a great addition to any watch collection! But to answer the question, is Longines a luxury brand, we have to look at the price range and materials since these are not at the level of many other luxury watch brands.
The lower price point of these watches and the fact that most are made from stainless steel shows that Longines cannot be considered a luxury brand, but instead can be seen as an affordable luxury brand or a high-end watch brand, just above brands such as Tissot and Casio.
If you are looking for a top-quality, chic, and hardwearing watch at a price point that won’t break the bank, then Longines is the perfect brand for you!
We hope you found this article answering the question, is Longines a luxury brand, helpful! For more luxury fashion content, check out the links below.
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