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Longines Conquest Heritage 38mm Mens Watch Green
Ref. L16494022
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Stepping up in Longines's range
The Conquest Heritage reaches back to Longines' 1950s sport watches — a period when the brand was producing some of the most technically accomplished competition timers in the world. This 38mm reissue takes the proportions and broad aesthetic of that era and fits them around the L888, a movement built around a silicon balance-spring that resists magnetic fields and temperature variation more reliably than a conventional hairspring. The 72-hour power reserve means a weekend off the wrist causes no disruption. At 38mm it wears squarely in the tradition it references — compact by today's standards, but deliberately so, and the green lacquered dial reads differently across the day, shifting from rich and saturated in shade to almost luminous in direct light. The alligator strap keeps the whole thing sitting low and quiet on the wrist. Beneath the caseback, hidden from daily view, sits an 18-carat gold medallion with a fish motif — a period detail that would have appeared on the originals, and one that makes opening the case feel less like a mechanical inspection and more like finding something that was meant to last.
- Reference
- L16494022
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Conquest
- Case size
- 38mm
- Case material
- Gold
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Green
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L888
- Functions
- Power reserve indicator
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Black
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 72 hours
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 6 collections
This watch appears in the Longines Conquest range (60), Automatic Watches (1,645), Leather Strap Watches (1,065), Dress Watches (541), Green Dial Watches (447) and Solid Gold Watches (146).
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
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Longines Conquest Heritage alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L16494022 | R27197152 | 01 403 7776 4065-07 5 19 11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,700 | £2,850 | £2,440 |
| Case size | 38mm | 38mm | 38mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Ceramic bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 72 hours | 80 hours | 120 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | 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.
Is 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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