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Longines Conquest Heritage 38mm Mens Watch Brown
Ref. L16494622
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Stepping up in Longines's range
The Conquest name has carried legal protection in Switzerland since 1954 — an unusual distinction that signals how seriously Longines regarded it. This Heritage edition returns to the proportions and mood of those original 1950s references: 38mm sits at the precise boundary where a dress watch stops feeling apologetically small and starts feeling composed, and at 10.80mm it disappears beneath a shirt cuff without the slight ridge that thicker automatics leave. The sunray brown lacquer catches raking light differently from direct light, shifting between warm amber and something closer to tobacco depending on the angle, and the rose gold-tone indices and hands key neatly into that warmth without tipping into ostentation. Underneath, the L888 runs on a monocrystalline silicon balance spring — a material that resists magnetic fields and thermal drift in a way that steel cannot — and carries a 72-hour reserve, so a watch left on the nightstand Friday evening is still running Monday morning. The screw-down caseback carries an engraved gold medallion with the original fish motif from the first Conquest series, which repays the moment you notice it: a detail addressed entirely to the owner rather than the observer.
- Reference
- L16494622
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Conquest
- Case size
- 38mm
- Case thickness
- 10.80mm
- Lug width
- 19mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Brown
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Fixed
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L888
- Functions
- Power reserve indicator
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Brown
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 72 hours
- Gem set
- Yes
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 (4,908), Stainless Steel Watches (3,241), Automatic Watches (1,645), Leather Strap Watches (1,065), Dress Watches (541) and Brown Dial Watches (100).
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What the specifications mean
A slim watch on leather, made for wearing with a shirt.
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 | L16494622 | 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.
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.
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
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £2,700, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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