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Longines Conquest Stainless Steel Automatic 42mm Mens Watch
Ref. L38354986
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 161 Longines watches in stock.The Conquest name dates to 1954, but this reference belongs to a wholesale redesign of the family — one that shed the chunkier proportions of earlier generations in favour of something considerably cleaner. The most telling decision is the dial layout: a matte silver main dial paired with azurage-finished blue chronograph sub-dials gives a panda contrast that reads clearly at a glance, and the date window was deliberately left out to keep the symmetry intact. The tachymeter sits on a fixed ceramic bezel rather than printed on the dial, which keeps things uncluttered. The L898 movement underneath is built on an ETA architecture reworked specifically for Longines, with an integrated modular chronograph and a silicon balance spring that shrugs off the magnetic fields most wrists encounter daily. At 59 hours of reserve it will comfortably survive a weekend off the wrist. The case runs to 14.3mm thick — not slim, but consistent with what an automatic chronograph movement demands, and the contoured lugs do genuine work in pulling it flush against the wrist rather than letting it hover.
- Reference
- L38354986
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Conquest
- Case size
- 42mm
- Case thickness
- 14.3mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Silver
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Fixed tachymeter
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L898
- Functions
- Chronograph, Date, Small seconds, Tachymeter
- Water resistance
- 100m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Silver
- Clasp
- Deployant clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 59 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.
Manufacturer’s guarantee
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Yes. At 100m it is rated for swimming and snorkelling, though not for diving.
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 59 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
22mm. 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.
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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