Longines 1913 18.89 Pocket Watch
This Longines because it does exactly what I want an early 20th century pocket watch to do: it feels elegant without trying too hard. The dial and case are wonderfully clean and restrained, with those flowing Arabic numerals and lovely blued steel hands that give the whole watch just enough personality. Even with the small dial flaws, it still has that calm, refined look that made me want to save it.
One of my favorite details is the case construction. This is a solid back swing-ring case, where the movement is mounted to a hinged carrier that pivots upward instead of simply dropping out from a conventional removable back. It is a neat, slightly unusual bit of engineering, and it makes the case feel more interesting than a standard open-face design.
The Longines 18.89 movement comes from the period when Longines was already deep into its stride as a serious Swiss manufacturer, turning out beautifully made pocket-watch calibers with clean architecture and excellent finishing. This is a particularly early example of the 18.89, manufactured in late 1913 in the run up to the official release of the movement. While the escapement in this example was damaged when I received it (specifically, it had a cracked upper pallet fork pivot jewel, and one of the pallet jewels was also damaged), it now runs strongly and accurately following parts replacement/repair and a service.