Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The New Longines Conquest 2023 Chronograph
Fully revamped and drastically modernized, this is the new face of Conquest.
The name Conquest is an important one at Longines, as it refers to a long-lasting collection that was first introduced in 1954. A surprising fact about this name: it was the first step in an emerging marketing strategy for the brand, which was to give a name to a family of watches, creating a collection. Something that seems common these days but proved powerful back then. Since then, the name Conquest has been synonymous with classic, all-rounder watches. The previous Conquest (not to be confused with the dive-oriented HydroConquest) had been around for many years and had started to look slightly outdated. But this year, Longines has decided to revamp entirely its go-anywhere, do-anything collection with the new Longines Conquest 2023. And after our introduction of the entire collection, it’s now time to have a closer look at the chronograph edition.
The Longines Conquest started its life in 1954 – to be precise, on April 3rd, 1954, Longines filed a patent for its Conquest collection and registered the name Conquest with the Swiss Federal Intellectual Property Office on May 5th, 1954. The early days of the collection were all about classic, slightly elegant but also robust watches – you can see the Conquest as Longines’s equivalent to early Seamaster watches. At first, these watches looked like this (the 2014 vintage re-editions are actually very accurate). These automatic watches featured a beautiful caseback with a medallion, but the most notable element was the dial, with bold and stylised arrow-shaped markers and a brushed circular track just below them.
Fast forward to the 2000s, and Longines gave its Conquest watch a slightly different meaning. In fact, the Conquest became a streamlined edition of the HydroConquest, sharing the same 300m water-resistant case (thus robust, not particularly elegant and quite thick) without the rotating bezel. The same recipe was used for the dials, with bold, oversized markers combining baton and Arabic numerals (the latter being reminiscent of the Hydro). Overall, for about 20 years, the Conquest has been more of a sleek sports watch than a casual all-rounder, moving a bit from its original definition – a watch that can be worn on all occasions, including at the office, while resistant enough to handle the action of the weekend (to quote our friends of Fratello, a GADA watch – go-anywhere, do-anything).
With the Conquest 2023, Longines does two things. First, it rejuvenates a watch collection that had started to feel dated. Second, it brings back a bit of the original concept with a sleeker, slightly more elegant model with less of a tool-watch approach. Surfing the trend for sporty-chic watches (without being a typical luxury sports watch with integrated design), the new Conquest is far more modern, less bulky, more streamlined, casual and quite elegant at the same time, and if you look closely, even blends some elements of the past (the brushed circular track) in an overall contemporary package. Still, this isn’t a collection that is part of the Heritage line, so don’t expect a resemblance with the old models.
This watch collection, in my opinion, serves the same purpose as an Aqua Terra at Omega, a Gentleman at Tissot or an Oyster Perpetual at Rolex. Simple, classic watches that can do almost everything, as long as we’re not talking about a specific, highly focused mission. In this instance, the new time-and-date Conquest 2023 is certainly a very decent offer. And while it already represents a major step forward compared to the previous editions, I think the chronograph edition shows an even more drastic evolution.
Let’s first talk about the design. As we’ve seen when looking at the full collection, the Longines Conquest 2023 is a major evolution of the concept. Sleeker, more angular, more modern, but also more elegant and less bulky than in the past, there’s an undeniable desire to make the collection more refined. As for the chronograph edition, the same is true, yet it must be toned down slightly for the obvious reason of the vocation of a chronograph. Sportier, more complex, and busier on the dial, this new edition of the Conquest Chronograph nevertheless manages to make the old models feel truly dated. The shape of the case has been entirely remodelled, with straighter and tighter lines, more simple pump-style pushers and a smaller, better-integrated crown guard module.
Being the sportier model in this collection, Longines decided to give it a slightly larger case, here measuring 42mm in diameter (vs. 41mm for the time-and-date watch). Also, due to the movement inside and the more complex display, it is a sizeable watch when it comes to its thickness, at 14.30mm, which remains on the average side for an automatic chronograph. An interesting evolution, while the time-and-date model shows a reduction of its resistance (from 300m to 100m WR), it is the opposite for the Chronograph, as the entire collection is now rated at 100m – always pleasant for a chronograph, as the older editions had 50m water-resistant cases.
Most of the personality of this new Conquest 2023 Chronograph comes from its fixed, contrasting bezel with a ceramic insert and a tachymeter scale. I would have expected this collection to stick to a flat, polished bezel, but I must admit that this black (or blue) bezel adds character to a watch that could otherwise have been a bit too simple. Other features are traditional, with a combination of finely brushed and polished surfaces, a screw-down crown, a screwed back with see-through crystal and an anti-reflective sapphire crystal on top. And, as you can expect from a Longines, the overall execution is precise and solid.
Moving on to the dial, there’s been a drastic evolution here, too, with a dial that has been completely redesigned. On all versions of the Conquest, the oversized Arabic numerals are gone, replaced by more discreet applied markers. The only reference to the past is the brushed circular ring under the markers, which has a contrasting colour (save for the blue edition) on the chronograph. Combined with contrasting sub-counters in black or white, this gives a more dynamic look to this Conquest 2023 Chronograph, which is enhanced by the newly shaped hands. Classic, with a slight geometric feel, the dial (which has a no-date display) feels more modern yet doesn’t have much personality. It looks very good – especially in its champagne version – but might lack some distinctive or unique elements.
This new Chronograph model is available in four editions: champagne with black bezel and sub-counters, silver-white with black bezel and counters and red tachymeter mention, black with black bezel, silver counters and red tachymeter mention, and finally, blue with tone-on-tone bezel and counters. For now, all models are worn on a classic brushed and polished steel bracelet with a folding clasp; however, other options could be added later.
Under the sapphire caseback is the calibre L898.5. Made specifically for Longines by ETA, this automatic chronograph features an antimagnetic silicon hairspring and a comfortable power reserve of 59 hours. What could be a bit disappointing is its architecture since it is based on the ETA 2892 with a module on top. Not only does it not have the same “prestige” as an integrated architecture (even though it performs identically), but also, the view through the back is that of a simple automatic movement. Nothing dramatic here, but Longines has other movements in its catalogue that would have been better suited, such as the L688.2 with a column wheel.
Overall, the new Longines Conquest collection is a major step forward in terms of looks. It is a nicely designed watch with a look that will certainly remain pleasant for many years to come. It’s also a great all-rounder with all the equipment you’ll ever need for conventional use. Still, at EUR 3,950, this Chronograph edition is not the cheapest, and a slightly more high-end movement, a chronometer certification, or additional features on the bracelet (interchangeability, micro-adjustment) would have been welcome.
For more details, please visit longines.com.
18 responses
It’s certainly not cheap, but face on it looks amazing.
I would however, like every article to also include z shot from the side.
What about a photo of the clasp. Come one, you can do better…
obviously, swatch group now is going into an in-fight with Rolex, ramping up prices in big steps for Omega and bringing up Longines to battle Tudor.
This is not about watch fans.
This is about market share only and leadership.
Customers are the horses the brands ride in their race.
Then again, if there’s one brand that deserves to be up there, it’s Longines.
Question however is, whether the quality of the pieces also follows, or it’s just a pushing of the price. Which is a general question, not specific to longines.
Is a tudor objectively better in any regards than a tissot / mido / longines / … powermatic?
@Hubertje – we indeed see the prices of all watches going up… there’s no general rule. Some brands offer more and more to their watches, with more features, better movements and so on… regarding the last question, yes there is a real difference in quality between a Tudor and a Tissot. It sees, it feels, and movements are from a different league. Longines and Tudor are competitors and are easily comparable on some models. That being said, Tudor is sort of a benchmark for the industry, with impeccable quality.
@Brice: Tudor is a benchmark for the industry? Can you back that up with some sort of objective data, because this feels like fanboyspeak otherwise. As far as i know Longines outsells Tudor by a wide margin. Longines has a very broad range of models that SURPASS (high beat movement) as well as SURRENDER (basic quarz) to tudor in perceived quality. The problem is that this requires the consumer to be educated and as we very well know we live barbaric times.
@Johannes Baital – sorry if you felt that this was a “fanboy” comment on my side. Quality, in the sense of perceived quality, is hardly something objective. No data can explain how a watch feels in terms of quality. Specifications are, on the other hand, cold and objective. But specifications are not the only way to judge the quality. We, here at Monochrome, see and handle a large amount of watches every year. And by experience, while Longines is certainly providing great quality, my own feeling (and thus far from objective) is that Tudor on some of its watches provides impressive perceived quality for the price. Then again, this is not something I’m asking you to agree with… It’s all about the perception of the quality by someone who’s also a watch lover, and surely has his own faults 🙂
And yes, there are Longines watches that I personally adore. The LLD for instance, or the Avigation BigEye, are two perfect examples of what Longines masters. Great vintage looks, overall great built quality, decent prices (even though they’re becoming more and more expensive).
Now regarding this new Conquest, I (personally) think the 4K price is a bit high considering the movement inside this watch, and the lack of some features. Yet, the overall built quality is solid, precise and made to last.
no watch is a benchmark, guys. it really doesn’t matter.
It’s about revenue and margin. In other words what they can suck out of your hard saved cash with the most minimal cost to them, they’re all industrially produced products, not art at all – not anything personalized or manual, more than some assembly or quality check needs that can’t be done automatically just yet.
If you look for art, for status (real status of a connoisseur) look elsewhere, FPJ, Gröbel, …
If you’re looking for investment – LOL. You’re wrong here.
If you’re a fan of anything mainstream mass produced, you’re very right here.
If you’re a fan of being charged well beyond typical factors of margins of a fashion industry, you’re right here, very right so. Be it Rolex, Tudor, Longines, Omega, TAG, IWC, Cartier, Breitling, Panerai, Sinn, whatever. They do not differ in Quality aside from design and certified chronometric qualities.
Love it, fine, with me. I like them, too, but the industry has run away from clients. The effect is that many clients run even faster to get rid of their cash and jump any type of loops, hoops, whatever to get a grip on a mass-produced fake unique and fake rarity item. And funny enough fight each other to promote their daemons over the other’s daemons of cash-burning.
Having rread the comments I just have to add my own view to the mix, the last thing Mr Goulard or the Monochrome team are is “fanboys” when it come to reviewing watches. Monochrome reviews are balanced and will criticise where it is due and praise where it is due. In the case of the Conquest Chronograph Mr Goulard is right to mention the use of the Cal. 898 in this watch . As a modular chronograph movement it will never be quite as good as an integrated column wheel chronograph movement such as the Cal. L688 that Longines uses in a number of watches including the Heritage Avigation “Big Eye” . The price of the Conquest Chronograph at £3400 seems a high one even with the inclusion of a bracelet and a ceramic bezel because the movement is not really good enough at this price point, especially as the Spirit Chronograph with an integrated column wheel chonograph movement, the Cal. L.688.4 retails on a bracelet for £2900. This is disappointing as Longines have a long and distinguished history producing chronographs and were for most of the 20th century up to the so-called “quartz crisis” makers of some of the finest chrongraphs available, including those from Patek Philipe and other brands. After the release of the Spirit Flyback Chronograph this release feels like a step backwards. I agree with Mr Goulard’s assessment that the Conquest is Longines’ Aqua Terra or Datejust range, a good looking watch that can do anything the owner requires of it and still look good. It is also clear from the review that the Conquest Chronograph is to a large extent devoid of a distinct “personality” that the Spirit range has in abundance. This could be because in attempting to create a “Go Anywhere, Do Anything” watch Longines have strayed too close to the designs of other famous chronographs like the Rolex Daytona and the Zenith Chronomaster. There is nothing inherently wrong in being close in looks to other watches but using a modular chronograph movement when integrated column wheel movements are available and then increasing prices beyond watches in your stable that use integrated chronograph movements is a faux pas in my view. As an aside Longines also need to carry out a “cull” of their SKUs because even after the introduction of newer version of the Dolce Vita, the Evidenza and now the Conquest the older models still clog up the website and the showrooms. Several ranges such as the Record, the Master, the Elegant and the 1832 are too alike to determine if any have their own raison d’etre. Too much choice is sometimes a bad thing as it can “paralyse” a customers decision making process.
@ SPQR – thank you for your (great, as usual) contribution
Looks like Rolex daytona ref 6263
@Daniel
It has elements of the Dayton but it looks very close to the Zenith Chronomaster. Of course the Zenith also takes styling cues from the Daytona and so the three watches look similar.
Do we have a lug to lug measurement?
Longines seems to have kept with its chrono ethos…tall and over 40. Shame as I’d take the height if they could make the watch and L2L smaller…bug this will be a winner for a lot of people!
Whatever. Too f’ing big. 40mm or less. Everyone can pull of a 40mm.
The 3 handers really need to be 39mm middle options. 41mm is Ok for some but 39mm is the sweet spot for almost everyone I know male and female. At least Tag Heuer got that one right with their 3 hand Carrera
Wow the price is about $1500 to high for this watch, Longines needs to up their quality and start producing their own in-house movements before charging this kind of money for a ETA module chronograph movement. I don’t know what they’re thinking but I bet it’s on the line of higher prices means perceived quality. They might get newcomers to the watch world or fans who don’t care but anyone who sees objectively can clearly see a price gouging going on.Longines a great entry level Swiss watch company not a mid level player. Anyone who purchases these watches for mid level prices are the reason they will keep rising prices.
I must reply to SPQR,s comment. Yes on paper the L688 and variants like the L688.4 COSC rated are better movements than the cam operated L898.5 in this new conquest. Hoverver having had two Spirit Chronograph Chronometers since March 2022, both of which failed Longines have now replaced my watch and I have just picked up this new Conquest.
The point I am making is £3000 (£2520 when I bought it 2 years ago) for the Spirit, is one hello a spec (column wheel, silicon balance spring, COSC etc) is one hell of a spec for the money. Perhaps that’s why BOTH of mine failed. Too much calibre for not enough money and while the new flyback version is considerably more costly, its still a variant on the L688 inside. After 2 failures I had lost all confidence in watches with calibre.
Bye the way I have the black variant of the new Conquest and it looks sooo much better in the flesh. Just hoping it proves a reliable watch.