Longines WWW 'Greenlander' ref. 23088, Matte Black 'Broad Arrow' Dial

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

Longines is one of the most well respected manufacturers of the 20th century, full stop. Founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, the company built a name for themselves early on as a manufacturer of quality in-house movements right from the start. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Longines also built a reputation for precision timekeeping, earning accolades at international exhibitions and becoming a trusted name in sports timing, particularly in horse racing and aviation — an association with continues until today. By the mid-20th century, especially from the 1930s to the 1960s, Longines was at the peak of its technical and aesthetic prowess, producing a range of high-grade wristwatches admired today by collectors and vintage enthusiasts. The brand was known for its beautifully finished in-house movements, such as the 13ZN and 30CH chronographs, which are considered some of the finest column-wheel chronographs ever produced. The piece that we have here, a 'WWW,' dates to circa 1945 and is apart of a series of twelve watches that were was born out of the necessity of the British Ministry Of Defence to produce a watch that met a series of standards. Longines was one of the companies that would rise to the challenge to produce a timepiece that had a certain level of resistance to shock, magnetism, dust, and of course, excellent timekeeping. The name 'Greenlander' was initially tied to a claimed role in the 1952-54 British North Greenland Expedition, but has since since been debunked. The nickname, however, endures. Even without a Greenland expedition to its name, plenty of Longines watches saw real service on other missions through brutal Arctic conditions. Given that these watches were built for combat in the first place, the missing expedition does nothing to diminish the watch's pedigree. Battlefield or frozen frontier, the 'Greenlander' was engineered to hold up against either. The example that we have here is offered in honest overall condition, with a very nice 36mm case retaining excellent (and attractive) 'stepped' finishing on the top case and nice thick lugs that gently slope downward. The matte black dial inside shows some wear and patina from age, unsurprising given the life that was intended for the piece, and bears the desirable 'Broad Arrow' on the top half with an oversized subsidiary register on the bottom. It is powered by one of Longines' own Calibre 12.68Z manual-winding movements and comes fitted to a fantastic re-production single-pass textile strap. To many collectors of vintage, regardless of whether the focus is of military watches or not, this piece has everything going for it. Military issued, properly vintage, and its from one of the great brands. This is a real piece of history — a phrase often repeated in the world of watches, though rarely as deservedly as in this case.