Master Collection Annual Calendar unique piece that also happens to be Longines 50 millionth watch

The Saint-Imier manufacture has just produced its 50 millionth timepiece, a Master Collection Annual Calendar unique piece that aptly demonstrates its watchmaking savoir-faire.

Since it was founded in 1832, every watch that comes out of the Longines’ manufacture is properly numbered, a system that remains remarkably unbroken throughout its existence. Thus the Longines Electronic Archives contains a database that is one of the most extensive in the industry, if not the most, and it can swiftly identify the origin of a watch based on the serial number.

To mark this historic occasion, Longines has chosen to make its 50,000,000th watch a Master Collection, a classically styled collection launched in 2005 powered entirely by mechanical movements, most of it automatic.

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Commemorative inscription on the caseback
Above Commemorative inscription on the caseback

An annual calendar endowed with the new and Longines-exclusive L897 automatic calibre, the watch comes in a 40mm rose gold case with an attractive silver dial stamped with barleycorn motif. The double aperture at ‘3’ displays the month and date. The caseback is semi-transparent – the better to showcase the rose gold rotor – and inscribed with the winged hourglass logo as well as the words, “50 Million”.

The watch also serves as a teaser for upcoming releases, and is a unique piece currently on display with other historical collections at its museum in Saint-Imier.