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According to my father, this Longines wristwatch originally belonged to his father (my paternal grandfather). The family history behind my Longines watch find was no less interesting than its technical specifications. In contrast, Rolex movements of the era were generally considered sub-par in comparison.Ī vintage Longines caliber 9LT Photo Credit: Waha Watches In my opinion, the Longines caliber 9L/9LT is the equal of the classic IWC caliber 89 or the superb Hamilton 982M of the same period (the 'M' stands for either 'medallion' or 'masterpiece', depending on who you ask). Far nicer than a Rolex or Omega of the period.' It has solid gold chatons surrounding the ruby jewels. 'I don't have experience with the exact movement, but look at it. I will quote an anonymous online vintage watch enthusiast on the charms of the 9L/9LT movement:

These high grade movements were used in a wide range of Longines wristwatches, including those with stainless steel, gold-filled and solid karat gold cases. Like most vintage Longines movements, the 9L/9LT family was produced exclusively in-house with no components sourced externally. In fact, it is difficult to find out any information about these movements at all! Both calibers were workhorses of the Longines wristwatch lineup, yet hardly get a second look from most vintage watch enthusiasts today.

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The movement's serial number (7958924) indicated that it was produced in the year 1950.Īn updated version of the 1940s era caliber 9L, the 9LT is a really interesting watch movement. Popping off the back of the case, I found the movement was a manual-wind, 17-jewel Longines caliber 9LT. The sub-seconds - located at 6 o'clock - was absolutely typical for the time.

The completely original (albeit somewhat stained) dial sported applied gold Roman numeral markers along with a period appropriate Longines logo. Its solid 14 karat yellow gold case featured prominently flared lugs - a hallmark of 1940s to early 1950s Retro era design. This Longines had a family story behind it - one that I'll recount a little further on in this article.īut what a beauty this vintage Longines was! That's a good old watch hold onto it.' After briefly examining the watch, my parents had an epiphany about it origins.

I gave the newly found watch to my parents declaring, 'It's a Longines cased in 14 karat gold. I'm the sort of guy who randomly pulls an old sterling silver spoon or gold thimble out of a junk drawer, provided any are there to be found of course. You see, I have a knack for finding valuable things - so much so that I have occasionally been called a 'truffle pig'. This was a surprising development for me, but not too surprising. I reached down with anticipation and slowly pulled out a beautiful vintage Longines wristwatch housed in a solid 14 karat yellow gold case, circa 1950.

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However, just as I was about to call off the search I noticed something glinting in the dark corner of a partially opened archive box. It seems that although my parents like to save stuff, it is 'their' stuff (and not anyone else's) that is important in the grand scheme of the universe. I suspect that it was thrown out at some point. But the fiction trilogy I was looking for eluded my search.

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I found everything from wicker baskets to a book on how to program computer graphics from the 1980s. I dived in, ultimately spending hours picking through the debris. Think of the ending of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, except on a much smaller scale.

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It was packed nearly to the ceiling with archive boxes full of…well…stuff. It turned out that my parents had converted my old room into a makeshift storage warehouse. So I thought my chances of finding that paperback trilogy for my niece were pretty good. As my mom likes to say, 'I'll need it the minute I throw it out!' I've never known them to willingly get rid of anything that might prove to be even remotely useful in the future. However, after college I had opted to leave the books at my parent's house as space was in short supply in my new (and very cramped) urban apartment. My 17 year old niece is a fiction fanatic and I wanted to gift her a trilogy of paperback fantasy novels that I had read as a teenager. A few weeks before the 2021 holidays I stopped over at my parent's house on a mission.