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Longines Master Collection Limited Edition 190th Anniversary Edition 40mm Mens Watch
Ref. L27938732
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 194 Longines watches in stock.Longines reached its 190th year in 2022, and marked it by returning to the Master Collection — the line that has long represented the house at its most formal — with a run of exactly 190 solid 18ct rose gold pieces. This is one of them, numbered individually, and it wears that restraint in the detail: a frosted anthracite dial with machine-engraved Breguet Arabic numerals that catch raking light differently from the flat ground around them, rose gold hands, and a case that at 9.35mm sits low enough on the wrist to disappear beneath a cuff without negotiation. The movement inside is the L888.5, which runs a silicon balance spring for magnetic resistance and is wound to a 72-hour reserve — generous for a dress calibre, and useful in practice for a watch that will come off on Friday and go back on Monday. The caseback is glazed and carries a commemorative engraving, so the rotor is visible. The alligator strap matches the dial in tone and fastens with an 18ct rose gold triple-safety folding clasp with a push-piece micro-adjuster, which protects the leather from buckle wear over time and is a considered detail on a piece built to last.
- Reference
- L27938732
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Master Collection
- Case size
- 40mm
- Case thickness
- 9.35mm
- Lug width
- 21mm
- Case material
- Rose gold
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Grey
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- ETA A31.L11
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Grey
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- 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.
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 72 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
What size strap does it take?
21mm. 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 40mm 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.
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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