This 1950 men’s Longines has a manual wind movement set into a 10k gold filled case. Model reference 817 5542.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
From the serial number on the movement we can accurately date this watch to being made in 1950.
CONDITION
A tank watch is a generic term used for a rectangular men’s watch, and is most associated with Cartier. But this Longines shares many of the qualities of the Cartier, except the price – you would have to pay an awful lot more for a 1970’s manual wind gold plated Must de Cartier tank than you would need for this gold filled Longines, even though it has an in house movement. That is the manual wind 9LT, which has 17 jewels and sub seconds display. It is working nicely and Longines of this period really were built to last. The crown looks to have been replaced in the past at one point. The dial looks to have turned cream, possibly by cigarette smoke, but it is quite even. The case is gold filled – much thicker than gold plate, and is only showing signs of wear on the case back. The watch is small for today, but pefect for 1950 – being a tank shape it is worth looking at the wrist shots to help gauge how it would suit you rather than relying just on the dimension. Inside the case back is signed for Longines Wittnauer, Longines US distributor of the time, who also imported Vacheron Constantin watches into America. The back of the case back has a light name engraving. The leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 24.0 mm
Width without crown 22.2 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 37.4 mm
Case Thickness 9.6 mm
All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
