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Longines Master Collection 25.5mm Stainless Steel/Gold 18K Automatic Ladies Watch
Ref. L21285897
Sits in Longines’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Longines watches we list, which start at £1,050.
Price range £1,050 to £22,850 across 211 Longines watches in stock.The Master Collection arrived in 2005 as Longines's answer to a specific question: what does an automatic dress watch look like when it is drawn from the brand's own archival vocabulary rather than assembled from contemporary fashion? The result was a line of proportionally restrained pieces with movements worthy of the name on the dial. At 25.5mm this sits close to the wrist and reads as jewellery first, though the automatic movement inside it — the L595, built on a proven ETA architecture and running to a 45-hour reserve — puts it in a different category from the quartz dress watches it will sit alongside. The mother-of-pearl dial is indexed with twelve diamond dots, and the rose gold capping on the bezel and crown keeps the two-tone bracelet and case reading as a single coordinated object rather than two components tolerating each other. The triple-safety folding clasp with its push-piece release is a small thing that earns its keep daily — a bracelet at this size can feel insubstantial on the wrist, and the mechanism ensures it stays where it is placed without fuss.
- Reference
- L21285897
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Master Collection
- Case size
- 25.5mm
- Case thickness
- 8.9mm
- Lug width
- 13mm
- Case material
- Two-tone
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Mother-of-pearl
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- ETA 2000
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Two-tone
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Condition
- Vintage
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 45 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.
Manufacturer’s guarantee
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?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
How long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 45 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
13mm. 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 women's.
Cheapest place to buy
Goldsmiths is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference, so there is nothing to compare it against today.
Who are Goldsmiths?
Goldsmiths has been selling watches in Britain since 1778 and is part of the Watches of Switzerland Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They are an authorised dealer, so a watch comes with the manufacturer’s own warranty.
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