I have always long for a Longines Art Deco Tonneau watch as I used to have one in silver more than 20 years ago. Not sure why I sold it away. After much searching, I finally found one by trading two watches for this beauty from the 1920s. The following are a nice write up from a fellow collector Ryan from Singapore :
Like most wristwatches born in the 1920-30s and earlier, this Longines exists as either a pièce unique or one among a meagre handful. This is because wristwatches were still a novelty among civilian men and few timepieces would have survived a whopping hundred years, much less a solid gold one through the countless economic crises.
After World War I ended in 1918, two trends were largely responsible for the birth of this tonneau shape watch that we see today as a charming centenarian. The wristwatch steadily gained popularity over the pocket watch as a man's masculine accessory due to the former's crucial role in the trenches of war.
The flamboyant Art Deco style emerged as an representation of hope and optimism in the post-war era, which explains the unprecedented pairing of trench watch-style wire lugs (albeit a fancier execution that pivots for a perfect fit on any wrist) with ultra-stylised exploding Arabic numerals, which has become a trend in modern days.
Because men's wristwatches were not yet popular enough to prompt serial production - especially ones incorporating eccentric shapes and fonts - this dial had to be crafted entirely by hand. Everything, from the minute and second tracks to the Art Deco numerals and even brand name, was first engraved into the dial by hand before being filled in with paint by hand.
To the seasoned collector of the very old and rare, the most peculiar trait here for the Art deco watch would be the oversized case measuring 31 mm wide excluding the crown, a whopping 45 mm lug to lug, and 10 mm thin including the curved acrylic crystal. This is an exceptionally contemporary size that would have looked like a pocket watch strapped to the wrist in the 1920s when round men's wristwatches were around 30 mm in diameter (they had wire lugs, so their visual lug-to-lug would be around 30 mm as well).
However, Longines did not create a piece purely for shock factor without considering ergonomics - quite the opposite. In addition to pivoting lugs, the caseback had been made to curve gently across the wrist, resulting in an elegant yet fanciful façade reminiscent of Dali's melting clocks which wears more comfortably than the common round wristwatch. This tonneau shape later was revised by Franck Muller.
it is interesting to note that Logines launched the Evidenza basing on the inspiration from the vintage series
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