Longines Sei Tacche 5193 36mm, 1944

Dealer description — S.Song Watches

Famous for their dress watches and chronographs spanning from the 30s to the 50s, Longines are a brand much loved by the vintage community for their early contribution to the horological arena, like the first wristwatch chronograph movement. With their expertise in chronograph movements feeding into their other offerings, Longines could begin to expand their dominance. One such area was the typical three-hand, manually wound wristwatch. Pioneering the use of shock-absorption systems, Longines watches quickly became known for their robust timepieces with accurate movements. One area that Longines made another leap forward in was the use of screw-down casebacks. Far from the norm at the time, Longines began to offer them on their designs to bolster their wearability even further. This created a collecting niche as Italian collectors began to identify the watches by how many notches they had on their caseback. Known as the Sei Tacche, the timepiece I have on offer here, as the name suggests, has 6 notches on its caseback. As the fashion trends of the 1940s dictated, Longines would typically create small timepieces, within the low 30mm range. Contrary to this, however, the Sei Tacche I have on offer is found with an immediately distinctive 36mm case. Massive for time, this 36mm stepped case is rare in numbers and sought-after by collectors due to its modern and wearable profile. Furthermore, my example houses the rare Longines calibre 12.68N movement. Identified by its centre seconds hand, as opposed to a running seconds sub-dial at 6 o'clock - as is most commonly found on the Sei Tacche. Offered with its original dial, this example has a warm cream hue that is framed by an aged grey seconds track along its periphery. Possibly aged thanks to its country of origin, this example was delivered to Cabri, Egypt, on the 10th of August 1944, as per its extract, where the tropical sun no doubt aided this piece developing its gorgeous patina.