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Longines Master Collection 38.5mm Mens Watch Grey
Ref. L28434632
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Stepping up in the same colour and case shape
The Master Collection arrived in 2005 as Longines's argument that a dress watch need not be thin on substance to be thin on the wrist. At 10.2mm and 44.9mm lug to lug, this sits closer to a gentleman's watch of the 1960s than to the broader, taller pieces that dominate modern dressing — and it slips under a shirt cuff without a thought. The anthracite dial reads as genuinely dark rather than merely grey, and the engraved Arabic numerals give it a texture that changes with the angle of the light. The decision to drop the date and let the small seconds at six o'clock sit in symmetry with nothing else is the right one: it gives the layout a vintage composure that a date aperture would disrupt. Pink gold-tinted hands against that dark ground create a contrast precise enough to read easily but warm enough to avoid any clinical quality. The L893.5 inside earns attention. Based on an ETA architecture but rebuilt with a monocrystalline silicon balance-spring, it offers resistance to magnetism and temperature variation well beyond what the 30m rating might suggest this watch is asked to do — and 72 hours of reserve means a weekend away without winding.
- Reference
- L28434632
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Master Collection
- Case size
- 38.5mm
- Case thickness
- 10.2mm
- Lug width
- 20mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Anthracite
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L893
- Functions
- Date, Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Grey
- Clasp
- Deployant clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 44.9mm
- 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 7 collections
This watch appears in the Longines Master Collection range (47), Back in Stock (3,734), Stainless Steel Watches (2,581), Automatic Watches (1,570), Leather Strap Watches (860), Dress Watches (475) and Grey Dial Watches (197).
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What the specifications mean
A slim watch on leather, made for wearing with a shirt.
Strengths
- 38.5mm suits most wrists
- 44.9mm lug-to-lug keeps the 38.5mm case wearable
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 72-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
Longines Master Collection alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L28434632 | 01 782 7811 4055-07 8 | 164 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,350 | £2,400 | £2,220 |
| Case size | 38.5mm | 39.5mm | 37.5mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 30m | 30m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 72 hours | 41 hours | 43 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?
No. At 30m it will survive rain and handwashing, but not submersion of any kind.
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?
20mm. 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 44.9mm, 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 38.5mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £2,350, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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