Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

Once again, this is a review from my own personal collection — Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4. This is clearly not my style of watch, nor is it in a price range I would typically look for. So what on Earth possessed me to buy this watch? Why would THIS watch find its way into my watch box?

Well, it all began with my annual NFL Playoff Day, 2016 Edition. Each year, I host a double-header of playoff football for a few friends. As we watched the first game, my buddy just asked me, out of the blue, if I would sell him my TAG Heuer Monaco.

Let’s just take a time-out for a minute so I can explain the story of the Monaco. This was the first expensive piece I ever bought for myself exactly 5 years ago. My buddy actually purchased an Omega Railmaster XXL at the same time. Well, just over one year ago, my collection was growing and I wasn’t wearing the Monaco anymore, so my buddy bought it from me. But I soon missed it because it was the “little black dressy” piece in my collection and every man needs this, just like every woman needs her “little black dress.” Roughly one year goes by and I texted my buddy about the Monaco and he offered to sell it back to me, at a much lower price. I jumped on it. But I soon began wishing I had just laid out a bit of extra cash and gone for something new. So, when my buddy made an offer during the football game, I jumped on it again and sold back the Monaco to him for a bit less than I had paid.

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

My birthday was 2 days later and I had some extra dollars in my account, so I hit the store the very next day. You see, patience has never been a virtue of TimeCaptain. And I wanted a new piece in time for my birthday! I didn’t want to spend much more than I had raised from the Monaco sale, and my goal was to find a “little black dressy” piece, so I headed to a store that carries a few entry-level luxury brands. I had a few pieces in mind, but I found them too expensive.

Then, as I browsed through the store, I just noticed this Longines. Plain. Simple. Unremarkable yet elegant. I was pleasantly surprised at the MSRP and I tried it on. Rather than striking an emotional cord, the Longines just “ticked all the right boxes” and was available for a very attractive price. So here are my impressions after 1 month of regular wear.

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

As my readers know, I have huge wrists and the Longines measures 41mm. It actually fills my wrist beautifully, proving that 41mm is a perfect size for a dressy piece in my case. The first thing I liked were the hands. I hate the dainty little delicate hands on so many dress pieces. This Saint-Imier has reasonably thick and bold hands with a nice sweeping seconds hand. I really don’t care for the pointy minute markers, but I love the date display. The date window is clean, simple and bold as the white contrasts with the black dial. Now, the black dial is another highlight. It has a bit of a sunburst effect in the light and gives the piece a high-quality feel.

Speaking of high quality, let’s look at the strap. A lot of guys on forums complain about Longines’ strap quality. In this case, we have a fairly thick alligator strap with nice contrast stitching, and it comes with a deployment buckle. The strap and the buckle are the one of the highlights of this piece. After a few weeks, I am wearing the strap on the middle position and it fits just beautifully.

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

That “fit” is a great aspect of this Longines. It is small and thin and light and the strap secures perfectly on my wrist. I don’t feel at it all on my wrist. And it doesn’t stand out. It is quiet and understated, prompting me to wear it much more than I originally expected. You see, I now find that I often want the pleasure and satisfaction of wearing a mechanical timepiece WITHOUT crying for attention or advertising a ludicrous price tag. The Longines Saint-Imier is not distinctive or remarkable in any way — it blends in perfectly with formal or business attire and performs admirably.

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

Ah — performance! The Longines is running at -5 seconds per day and I have tested the power reserve at well over 40 hours more than once. This is an excellent performance for a bargain timepiece. The movement is Longines L619.2, which is an ETA caliber 2892-A2. This is a solid, basic workhorse. You can view the movement through the Longines case back, but you don’t see much. The rotor hides a lot of the movement, as is often the case with such automatic movements. It is, however, nice to see some mechanical stuff through the case back. This visual element adds some extra pleasure to the overall experience.

Longines Saint-Imier L2.766.4

And what, exactly, IS the overall experience of a Longines L2.766.4? It is the strong and silent type. It doesn’t provide any drama — it quietly does its job with reliability. If you are wearing a business suit, tight cuffs, dress cuffs or formal attire, the Longines is an elegant and mature complement to your outfit. It provides plenty of mechanical timekeeping satisfaction on your wrist without attracting the attention of uncultured, non-watch people (i.e. muggles). Given its accuracy, I am keeping my Longines on my winder so that it is set, ticking and ready for use all the time. And I am surprised how often I have been calling it into service. The Longines is, after all, my “little black dressy” piece.

Check out the Longines Saint-Imier collection, as well as their Heritage collection. You may find a nice piece for yourself. As always, the fun is in the search…

Yours truly,
TimeCaptain

Technical specs

CASE
Shape : Round
Material : Stainless steel
Glass : Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, with several layers of anti-reflective coating on the underside
Case Back : Transparent case back with sapphire crystal
Dimension : Ø 41.00 mm
Water Resistance : Water-resistant to 3 bar

DIAL AND HANDS
Color : Sunray black
Hour markers : Applied Arabic numerals and indexes, with Super-LumiNova ®
Hands : Stainless steel hands, with Super-LumiNova ®

MOVEMENT AND FUNCTIONS
Caliber : L619/L888, Self winding mechanical movement beating at 28’800 vibrations per hours and providing 42 hours of power reserve
Function : Hours, minutes, seconds and date.

STRAP
Strap Material : Black alligator strap
Buckle : With triple safety folding clasp and push-piece opening mechanism.

MSRP: $2,100