Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Longines 14k YG Cal. 10L "Military Dial", 1944
- Maker / attribution
- Longines (maker)
- Date
- 1944
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Stock no.
- LNGS14KMIL
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (LNGS14KMIL)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 1944 Longines 14k YG Cal. 10L "Military Dial" (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number LNGS14KMIL), this is a wristwatch by Longines, made in Switzerland, dated 1944. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Craft & Tailored
This Longines is powered by Longines caliber 10L manual wind movement. A beautifully designed and handsome vintage military-style model with a robust 14k yellow gold design that features a 24 hour dial and oringal blued-steel hands. SPECS Stock # LNGS14KMIL Brand Longines Style Military Style Model N/A Serial 68XXXXX Size Men's/ Unisex Material 14k Yellow Gold Dial Champagne Millimeters 30 Bracelet 2pc Canvas Strap CASE & BRACELET The 14k yellow gold case has been lightly polished in the past and remains in overall excellent condition retaining full and symmetrical lugs that exhibit light signs of use. The yellow gold crown is most likely an early replacement and fits the watch's aesthetic perfectly. The screw-down case back is also in great condition and the watch retains its original sterling silver dust cover for the movement. The watch comes supplied on a military-style canvas strap with gold-toned hardware. DIAL & HANDS The champagne military-style dial with radium Arabic numerals has an attractive vintage aesthetic with consistent signs of tasteful aging throughout. the radium lume Arabic numerals have taken on a lovely tan coloration and display no degradation when inspected under U.V. light. The original radium blued-steel hands are in perfect condition and accent beautifully with the gold of the dial and case, the lume shows no degradation under U.V. light inspection. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is keeping time, previous service history is unknown.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Military, pilot and travel watches
The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.
In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.
What to look for
- Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
- High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
- 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
- Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
- Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
- GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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