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Longines Flagship Classic 38.5mm Mens Watch Silver
Ref. L48154722
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 Flagship Heritage line traces back to 1957, one of Longines' earliest automatic dress references, and this 2023 addition extends that lineage by folding a moonphase into the format — a complication that suits the silvered sunray dial and tapered hands rather more naturally than it would a busier layout. The caseback carries an 18-carat yellow gold medallion filled with hand-painted Grand Feu enamel, a caravel rendered in blue that you will never see while wearing it, which is precisely the kind of detail that separates a watch built with some conviction from one that merely looks the part. The L899.5 runs a silicon balance-spring, which means magnetism from phones and laptop clasps will not gradually pull it off rate the way it would a conventional hairspring. At 38.5mm with a lug-to-lug of 46.3mm, it sits close to the wrist and disappears under a cuff; the 72-hour power reserve means a weekend off the wrist on Friday evening does not require resetting on Monday morning.
- Reference
- L48154722
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Flagship HeritageCase Size: 38
- Case size
- 38.5mm
- Case thickness
- 12.4mm
- Lug width
- 19mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Silver
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L899.5
- Functions
- Date, Moonphase
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Grey
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 46.3mm
- Power reserve
- 72 hours
- 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.
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?
19mm. 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 46.3mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16cm (6¼ inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
Is 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
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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