Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Longines Sei Tacche, c. 1943
- Maker / attribution
- Longines (maker)
- Date
- c. 1943
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 34 mm
- Stock no.
- 40990203
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40990203)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Longines Sei Tacche (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40990203), this is a wristwatch by Longines, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1943. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 34 mm. 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 — Analog/Shift
In our opinion, Longines doesn't quite get the respect that it deserves. That is not to say that their watches aren't held in high regard. But the level of innovation, craftsmanship, and design that Longines has demonstrated over the course of their existence simply cannot be understated, and certainly extends to a wide variety of timepieces across the board. The "Tre-Tacche" and “Sei Tacche” watches from the late 1930s and 1940s, however, have developed a cult-like following amongst vintage enthusiasts. The names reference their unique 3- and 6-notched casebacks which require special tools to remove, but the watches themselves are perhaps the most pure execution of no-frills, robust "tool" watches before there were “tool” watches. This particular Sei Tacche features a 34mm stainless steel case with holey lugs, an acrylic crystal, a bleu feuille handset, a non-luminous silver dial with printed Arabic indices and an outer minute track, and a six-notched caseback. Dating to circa 1943, it’s a well-built reminder that Longines never stopped making ultra-tough watches — even in the midst of war. If what you’re after is a highly legible, everyday timepiece in a comfortable package, you could do much worse than this handsome Sei Tacche!
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
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
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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