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Longines Flagship Classic 26mm Diamond Dot Automatic Ladies Watch
Ref. L42743277
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Stepping up in Longines's range
The Flagship name goes back to 1957, when Longines set out to make a dress watch that could carry the calibre quality associated with the brand's competition and precision work into everyday wearing. This 26mm version stays close to that mid-century brief: a round case kept to 7.9mm thick, a white matte dial, and twelve natural diamond hour markers — Top Wesselton stones totalling 0.034 carats — arranged with enough restraint that the dial reads cleanly rather than decoratively. The movement beneath is worth noting. The L592 is built on ETA A20.L11 architecture but fitted with a monocrystalline silicon balance-spring, which makes it substantially more resistant to magnetic fields and temperature variation than a conventional hairspring at this tier. At 60.4 grams on the wrist, the two-tone bracelet — steel layered with yellow PVD — sits lightly, and the triple-safety folding clasp sits flat enough to disappear under a cuff. Link removal is straightforward, which matters on a bracelet this narrow.
- Reference
- L42743277
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Flagship Classic
- Case size
- 26mm
- Case thickness
- 7.9mm
- Lug width
- 12mm
- Case material
- Two-tone
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- White
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- ETA A20.L11
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Two-tone
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 45 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 6 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (3,734), Automatic Watches (1,570), Watches Under 37mm (1,369), Women's Watches (1,263), Two-Tone Watches (386) and Diamond Watches (106).
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What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 26mm wears small and slips under any cuff
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- Sits in the lower half of Longines's range as we list it
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
Longines Flagship Classic alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L42743277 | 5124-STS00985 | YA168501 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,000 | £1,895 | £1,400 |
| Case size | 26mm | 24mm | 25mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | 45 hours | — | — |
| This watch |
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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 45 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
12mm. 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
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £2,000, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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