Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Longines Trench Style Watch with Anonymous Silver Enamel Dial, Longines Signed Movement, circa 1926
- Maker / attribution
- Longines (maker)
- Date
- c. 1926
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- silver
- Stock no.
- vws3936cs
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws3936cs)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Longines Trench Style Watch with Anonymous Silver Enamel Dial - Longines Signed Movement - c.1926 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws3936cs), this is a wristwatch by Longines, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1926. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver. 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 — Vintage Watch Specialist
A beautifully preserved and rather rare oversized Longines trench style watch from c.1926, featuring the iconic Longines 13.34 calibre and Arthur Baume import hallmark. Founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, Longines is one of the oldest and most respected watchmakers in the world. Known for its precision and elegance, the brand built its reputation through pioneering innovations in aviation, navigation, and sports timing. Longines also played a significant role in military history, supplying robust and reliable timepieces during both World Wars. With its iconic winged hourglass logo, Longines continues to represent timeless design, technical mastery, and enduring Swiss watchmaking tradition. What's on Offer This oversized solid silver trench style watch, hallmarked for 1926, is powered by the legendary Longines Calibre 13.34 – one of the brand’s most important early wristwatch movements. With 15 jewels, it was celebrated for its slim design, accuracy, and durability, making it a mainstay in Longines watches from the 1910s through the 1930s. The enamel dial, with bold Roman numerals and a striking red XII, adds vintage charm, while the case is stamped “AB” for Arthur Baume, Longines’ official UK importer. A rare and historically significant piece that wears beautifully on the wrist as you can see illustrated in our photos. Please note there are imperfections and damage to the crystal at 10 o'clock - you can see this in our photographs.
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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