Hello Brad,
Thank you for sending in this wristwatch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today but I must say I cannot precisely pin down the model, despite finding many similar examples.
TITLE:
Gent’s, 14k yellow gold, manually wound, water resistant, Presentation wrist watch, accompanied by a gold plated and steel Speidel link bracelet (U.S. patent date on bracelet is from 1935), made by the Longines Watch Company, St. Imier, Switzerland circa late 1950s-1960.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE: Size not provided, but estimated to be 34/35mm in diameter, two leaf, 14k yellow gold, with wide polished and slightly canted bezel, lapidated (faceted) lugs, screwed down case back marked 14k gold with the Presentation inscription to “Fred C. Stein, 40 years’ service, Bordens 1960”. The inside of the back cover is not shown and that would contain the reference number of this watch provided by Longines. The watch case is integrated with an engine turned and textured, gold plated, expandable link bracelet with gold plated metal and stainless steel on the underside.
DIAL: White silvered metal dial with applied Arabic numerals @3, 6, 9 and 12 (these Arabic hours have a retro art deco appearance) and gold arrowhead baton hour indices at the balance of the hours. There is a subsidiary continuous seconds’ dial @6, gilt pointy baton hands and the winged gold hourglass logo under the printed name, Longines. There is an open bar minute track round the outside with black Cubist markers placed every five minutes.
MOVEMENT: Unfortunately not shown. I usually do not like to guess at these movements because Longines had as many movements as they had watch models. Perhaps, this is the manually wound calibre 22L that Longines first created in 1945 and used for well over a decade. It was made with 17 jewels and vibrated @18000 beats/hour. In 1960 they also made the calibre 310 with 17 or 18 jewels, manual winding and a power reserve of 42 hours. Just cannot be certain without seeing the actual movement.
CONDITION:
Case – The case remains in very good condition today although there is some patchy discoloration around the bezel. The back cover has some minimal nicks and scuffs but quite modest for its age.
Dial - The silvered white dial is excellent and my favorite part of this watch with its bold Arabic numerals in gold, almost looking back to the Art Deco era and the faceted arrowhead hours, which balance the numerals nicely. Excellent.
Movement –Since you do not shown it to me I will make the assumption for this appraisal that the movement is original to this case, genuine and fully functional.
Overall, the watch is in very good to excellent condition. Since I cannot locate the exact model, I will provide similar types from the same era in very good condition to compare their prices with yours.
SIMILAR COMPARABLES:
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/14k-y-gold-longines-1950-s-mans-wristwatch-FQHo3Ve6o_
(Sold in 2015 for 375)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/longines-small-seconds-men-s-wrist-watch-1960s-kBe8hHNPAS
(Sold in 2016 for $526)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/longines-yellow-gold-longines-movement-no-7510959-case-no-48013065-made-in-the-1950-s-fine-and-rare-14k-yellow-gold-wristwatch-with-a-14k-yellow-gold-brick-link-bracelet-W5f0AYvYw (made in the 1950s with a 14k case, lugs and bracelet and sold in 2011 for $1250)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/69274255_gentlemen-s-longines-dress-watch-circa-1953-manually (Stainless steel and sold in 2019 for $441)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/114451205_longines-an-18k-yellow-gold-mens-watch-circa (18k gold, sold in 1960, manual wind and sold for $464)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/112410631_longines-14kt-gold-automatic-dress-watch-mid-20th (An automatic example form the same time period, 14k gold, sold in 2021 for $500)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/112053810_gents-14kt-gold-longines-strap-watch (1962 gold presentation watch sold for $320 in 2021)
LONGINES HISTORY:
The original pioneers for Longines were watchmakers Jonas Raiguel (1782) and Auguste Agassiz (1832) of St. Imier, Switzerland. The Longines-Wittnauer Watch Company was an American agency founded by Auguste Agassiz circa 1847 in New York City. The first Longines Swiss factory was built by his nephew, Ernest Francillon in 1867 at St. Imier. This established a firm and lasting link between America and Switzerland for the production of watches. This was the first Longines factory that made watches by mechanical interchangeability of parts and utilized standardized machine methods. The first in-house Longines movement was created in 1867. Francillon was the first watchmaker to introduce the winding crown (All watches before that were wound with a key.) The same year Ernest Francillon returned from the World's Fair in Paris with a bronze medal for this watch. Due to prolific growth the factory buildings themselves regularly had to be adapted to the needs of a flourishing enterprise which, by 1911, employed over 1,100 people and sold its timepieces worldwide. The company’s various technical research projects earned so much acclaim abroad that Longines could claim the title of “leading prize winner” at international exhibitions up to the Barcelona Exhibition of 1929. It garnered ten Grand Prix awards (Antwerp 1885, Paris 1889, Brussels 1897, Paris 1900, Milan 1906, Bern 1914, Genoa 1914, Paris 1925, Philadelphia 1926 and Barcelona 1929). The history of the company is well known and easily researched on the internet, so i will not go into detail except for some interesting items...A letter exists from the 1885 International Inventions Exhibit in London which contains information about Longines: By 1885 they had added steam and water power to drive their machinery. They tried to prove interchangeability of watch parts by demonstrating that holding two dozen watch plates on wire strings one could see clearly through all of the jewel holes...In 1874 Longines filed for a Swiss trademark under the graphic symbol of an "hour glass with wings'. Originally these wings were more up and down than later trademarks where they are seen as side to side. The original trademark was finally registered in 1880 by the Swiss government. In 1905 their trademark of Longines written in script was registered. The word Longines in printed letters was registered in 1942 (was used before that date also). In 1957 the most famous trademark, the word Longines with the hour glass and stretched out wings was registered...For your convenience I will list some of the Longines serial numbers found on their watch movements. The serial numbers found inside the case are those of the case maker, not the watchmaker. 500000 in 1888; 1000000 in 1899; 1750000 in 1905; 2500000 in 1911; 3250000 in 1915; 4250000 in 1925; 5000000 in 1929; 5500000 in 1937 and 6000000 in 1940...
In 1874 Longines filed for a Swiss trademark under the graphic symbol of an "hour glass with wings'. Originally these wings were more up and down than the later trademarks where they are seen as more side to side. The original trademark was finally registered in 1880 by the Swiss government to Ernest Francillon. The 1880 trademark was "E.Francillon placed over the wings over the name Longines over Swiss".....The next trademark was from May 1886 and was the word "Chasseral placed over the wings floating above a mountain range with the word Longines at the bottom". This was granter to E. Francillon & Company....In May of 1889 the trademark found on your case of "EFCo over the wings over the word Longines all in a circle" was granted to Ernest Francillon & Company.
PRICING:
Brad, I am sorry I could not precisely pin down the reference number of your dad’s model, but I searched for the past couple of hours. During the early years of the 1960s Longines introduced their ‘Flagship’ and ‘Conquest’ models, both automatic, and a good deal more expensive than your type of dress watch. The type of lugs on your watch suggest the year of manufacture was close to 1960, but I had no serial number to check. At the same time the use of the thick Art Deco like Arabic numerals suggested a date more in the late 1950s to me, as did the arrowhead hours. I just did not have enough to go on here with lacking the serial number, the reference number and the movement photos, but I do not think that would affect the pricing of your watch when compared to similar watches from those years. The Speidel band was quite commonplace back in the mid-20th century, but the design on this particular example had quite an interesting design pattern to it, is aesthetically appealing, and it goes perfectly with the watch.
I believe the fair market price of your watch, in its current condition, and with its aesthetic appeal would range from $450-$600 with a retail value about twice that amount.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal. I hope you continue to enjoy this handsome watch. I have had my Longines wristwatch on since it was made in 1963 and received it as a gift on one of my numerous graduations.
My best,
David