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Longines La Grande Classique De Longines 29mm Ladies Watch Gold
Ref. L45122378
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Stepping up in Longines's range
La Grande Classique arrived in 1992 as Longines' answer to a specific question: what does a Swiss dress watch look like when nothing is surplus to requirement. Three decades on, the brief has not changed. The 29mm case is deliberately jewellery-scaled, and at 4.5mm thick it disappears beneath an evening sleeve in a way that a conventional dress watch cannot manage. The all-gold dial is set with twelve Top Wesselton VS-SI diamond dot indices — 0.081 carats in total, present enough to catch light without competing with the slender gilt hands. One of the quieter achievements of the La Grande Classique silhouette is the way the bracelet lugs attach directly beneath the caseback, so the watch reads as a single continuous form on the wrist rather than a case with a strap appended to it. The column-link bracelet follows the wrist contour closely, and the triple-safety folding clasp opens only when both push-pieces are released together.
- Reference
- L45122378
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- La Grande Classique de Longines
- Case size
- 29mm
- Case thickness
- 4.5mm
- Case material
- Gold PVD
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Gold
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Quartz
- Calibre
- L420
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Gold
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- 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.
Also in 5 collections
This watch appears in the Longines La Grande Classique de Longines range (9), Back in Stock (3,734), Watches Under 37mm (1,369), Women's Watches (1,263) and Gold Watches (492).
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What the specifications mean
Strengths
- 29mm 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 La Grande Classique De alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L45122378 | MWW06V000002 | YA163502 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,650 | £1,599 | £1,590 |
| Case size | 29mm | 29mm | 30mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 50m | 30m |
| Movement | Quartz | Quartz | Quartz |
| Strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet | Stainless steel bracelet |
| This watch |
| 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?
Yes. It is quartz, so expect a battery change every two to three years at a jeweller.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as women's.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £1,650, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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