Monday Funday with a little Blue! · Watch Lover

Jeffrey Plotka

🔥

4h • WOTD ⌚

Monday Funday with a little Blue!

Since

@Warren Money

@Sean Kavanaugh

brought out "Blue Monday". I figured I'd jump on the wagon!

While Monday's are anything but "Blue" for me its a great reason to break out an easy to wear watch for the day.

Monday's are my busiest days of the week and they start at 6:45 am with meetings and go late tonight as I have a meeting in the city until about 9pm give or take.

This is just a really easy watch to grab and enjoy!

WOTD:

Longines "Zulu Time" with a blue dial on a bracelet!

It's an easily approachable watch and the brand does not get the love and attention it deserves!

Here's a bit of Longines History for the group according to Grok 😎

History of the Longines Watch Company

Longines, a Swiss luxury watchmaker renowned for its blend of tradition, elegance, and precision, traces its origins to the Jura Mountains in Switzerland. Founded in 1832 in the village of Saint-Imier by watchmaker Auguste Agassiz (brother of the famous biologist Louis Agassiz) in partnership with lawyers Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel, the company initially operated under the name Raiguel Jeune & Cie. as a comptoir d'établissage—a workshop where local artisans produced components at home for assembly and export. Agassiz became sole proprietor in 1846 after his partners retired, focusing on pocket watches for international markets, particularly in the Americas.

In 1852, Agassiz enlisted his nephew, economist Ernest Francillon, to modernize operations. Facing competition from American industrialized watchmaking (inspired by Francillon's 1850s study trip to the U.S., which produced a landmark report on efficient production), Francillon centralized manufacturing. In 1867, he built the company's first factory on a meadow called Les Longines ("long meadows" in the local dialect), naming the brand after the site. This marked Longines as the world's first watch company to assemble timepieces under one roof, pioneering mechanized production while maintaining Swiss craftsmanship. The iconic winged hourglass logo, symbolizing time's passage and the brand's precision, was trademarked in 1889—the first Swiss watch brand registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Pioneering Innovations and Milestones:

Longines quickly established itself as an innovator, particularly in precision timing and sports:

Year Key Milestone:

1878 First chronograph pocket watch with monopusher for sports timing; by

1889, timing to 1/5 second.

1880s Official timer for U.S. horse racing; combated counterfeits by trademarking the name in 1880.

1908–1911Dual-time pocket watches for the Ottoman Empire ("Turkish Watches") and patent for two-time-zone display.

1919Official supplier to the International Aeronautical Federation.

1925First dual-time-zone wristwatch (Zulu Time; detailed below).

1927 Weems Second-Setting Watch with U.S. Navy aviator Philip Van Horn Weems for celestial navigation.

1931Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch, co-designed with Charles Lindbergh post his

1927 transatlantic flight.

1954Conquest line launched for sports and outdoor use.

1959Admiral's Cup precursor with inner rotating dive bezel (inspiring the modern Legend Diver).

The brand's aviation heritage deepened in the early 20th century, equipping pioneers like Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and U.S. Navy officers with navigation tools. Longines also embraced quartz technology in the 1970s–1980s, launching the ultra-precise Caliber 160 (1980) with a five-year battery life. In the 1990s, under the Swatch Group (acquired in 1983, following mergers with ETA and SSIH), Longines repositioned as an accessible luxury brand emphasizing heritage, below Omega but above Tissot. Today, headquartered in Saint-Imier with a museum preserving archives since 1867, Longines sponsors equestrian, gymnastics, and aviation events, producing over 50 million watches. Its collections—like Spirit (aviation-inspired), Master (elegant complications), and HydroConquest (diving)—balance history with modern COSC-certified movements.

Have an amazing Monday everyone!!

23 comments