Longines 1959 1048 Sub Second Manual
This is a great example of Longines’ mid-century design mastery - really a great looking watch which manages to look much more modern than it is. The Longines 27M movement inside is beautifully crafted, and also demonstrates Longines’ long devotion to non-shock-protected balances, at least for their dress watches, which extended into the early 1960s.
There was one thing about this watch which bothered me when I first restored it. The hands, while otherwise in good condition, appeared to be unfinished brass, and simply didn’t match the gold indices on the dial very well. I’m still not sure if that was deliberate, but it never looked right to me, so eventually I replated the hands in 14K gold. I think it really improves the look of the watch, which is now one of the best looking (IMO) in my collection.