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Longines Flagship 36mm Stainless Steel
Ref. 01570000981
The Flagship has been Longines's dress proposition since the 1950s, a line built around the idea that a watch worn to a meeting or a dinner should not announce itself. At 36mm it sits precisely where that tradition has always lived — close enough to the wrist to disappear under a cuff, legible enough to read at a glance without being consulted. The black dial with polished baton markers is a pairing that works because the contrast does all the work without requiring any further decoration. On a steel bracelet with a folding clasp, the result is a watch that reads as dressed without being formal — the kind of thing that neither fights a suit nor looks lost without one.
- Reference
- 01570000981
- Brand
- Longines
- Case size
- 36mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Quartz
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Silver
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Condition
- Pre-owned
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Learn more about Longines
Auguste Agassiz began trading watches in Saint-Imier in 1832, but the modern company dates from 1860, when his nephew Ernest Francillon built a factory in the meadows beside the Suze — the longines of the local dialect — and consolidated the scattered outworkers of the region under one roof.
Longines registered its winged hourglass in 1889. It is the oldest watch trademark still in continuous use.
The company's identity was built on precision and on timing things in public. It supplied chronographs for the first modern Olympic events it timed in 1896, timed the 1912 Federal Gymnastics Festival with a broken-wire mechanism accurate to a hundredth of a second, and developed the photo-finish camera and the quartz timing devices used across twentieth-century athletics.
Its aviation associations are equally deep. Longines instruments were carried by Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic in 1927, and the Hour Angle watch, designed to Lindbergh's own specification to simplify longitude calculation, remains in the catalogue. Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes both navigated by Longines.
The house was among the most decorated at nineteenth-century observatory trials, holding numerous precision records. Since joining the Swatch Group in 1983 it has occupied the accessible-heritage position: exclusive ETA-based movements, archive-driven designs through the Heritage line, and volume that makes it one of the group's most important brands.
- 1860
- Ernest Francillon builds the factory at Les Longines.
- 1889
- The winged hourglass is registered — the oldest watch trademark in use.
- 1912
- Broken-wire timing achieves hundredth-second accuracy.
- 1927
- Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic with Longines instruments.
- 1983
- Becomes part of the Swatch Group.
Also in 3 collections
This watch appears in Stainless Steel Watches (2,551), Watches Under 37mm (1,351) and Pre-Owned, Ex-Display & Vintage Watches (199).
What the specifications mean
Strengths
- 36mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
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| Specification | 01570000981 | 1270.53 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £750 | £650 |
| Case size | 36mm | 36.4mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 100m |
| Movement | Quartz | Quartz |
| Strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet |
| This watch |
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
No. At 30m it will survive rain and handwashing, but not submersion of any kind.
Will the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Does it need a battery?
Yes. It is quartz, so expect a battery change every two to three years at a jeweller.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as unisex, and at this size it suits any wrist that takes the dimensions.
Cheapest place to buy
Mappin & Webb at £750, pre-owned. No UK retailer we track lists this reference new.
Is this available new?
Not from the UK retailers we track. This reference is listed as pre-owned only, at £750 from Mappin & Webb. A pre-owned watch has been worn, and is normally sold under the retailer’s own warranty rather than the manufacturer’s.
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