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Longines Conquest Heritage Central Power Reserve 38mm Mens Watch Blue Alligator
Ref. L16484922
Sits in Longines’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Longines watches we list, which start at £900.
Price range £900 to £22,850 across 271 Longines watches in stock.The original Conquest name was registered in 1954 — an unusual step that signals how seriously Longines regarded it — but the complication this watch carries came five years later, when the brand introduced a central power reserve indicator unlike anything else being made at the time. This piece revives that specific detail directly, rather than simply borrowing the aesthetic of the period. The central power reserve works through a dual-disc system that sits at the heart of the light blue opaline dial, readable at a glance without disrupting the vintage layout around it. At 38mm with a lug-to-lug of 45.6mm, the proportions are genuinely compact and will suit a broad range of wrists; the box-shaped sapphire crystal adds height in the right way, giving the watch a period silhouette rather than a flat modern profile. The L896.5 beats at 3.5 Hz rather than the standard 4 Hz, which is an unusual choice, and pairs a monocrystalline silicon balance spring with a 72-hour reserve — practical depth behind the heritage appearance. The alligator strap is grey rather than the blue that might be the obvious pairing, and the restraint works: it keeps the dial as the single point of colour without the whole thing reading as a costume.
- Reference
- L16484922
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Conquest
- Case size
- 38mm
- Case thickness
- 12.30mm
- Lug width
- 19mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Blue
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L896.5
- Functions
- Date, Power reserve indicator
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Grey
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 45.60mm
- Power reserve
- 72 hours
- Origin
- Swiss made
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 7 collections
This watch appears in the Longines Conquest range (60), Back in Stock (3,734), Stainless Steel Watches (2,581), Automatic Watches (1,570), Leather Strap Watches (860), Blue Dial Watches (714) and Dress Watches (475).
Manufacturer’s guarantee
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 38mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 72-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Longines's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Longines Conquest Heritage Central Power alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L16484922 | 147 | 7765-STC-20001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £3,800 | £3,680 | £3,550 |
| Case size | 38mm | 38.5mm | 39.5mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 72 hours | 42 hours | 62 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched |
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 72 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
What size strap does it take?
19mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 45.60mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16cm (6¼ inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's, though at 38mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
Cheapest place to buy
Goldsmiths is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference, so there is nothing to compare it against today.
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