Since its debut in 2007 as part of the vintage-inspired Heritage collection, the Longines Legend Diver has found success by continuing to embrace diversity in its colorways, materials (like the bronze model that debuted in 2020), and sizing options (like the 39mm case introduced in 2023). With the newest version, the Longines Legend Diver 59, the Saint-Imier watchmaker pays tribute to the model’s inspiration, a Super-Compressor dive watch from the eponymous year of 1959, in a near-pitch-perfect re-edition. Here’s what you need to know about it.
The faithful vintage elements start with the case dimensions — 42mm in diameter, matching the large-for-the-time proportions of the 1959 original — and continue with the use of an internal rotating bezel, with a 60-minute scale, to set dive times via a dedicated crown at 2 o’clock. First used by Longines in 1936, this style of dive-scale ring rotates in both directions and is placed under the crystal to avoid accidental manipulation or shocks from the outside. A hallmark of the so-called Super-Compressor case design, this device was developed as an alternative to the external, unidirectional bezel that the vast majority of dive watches use for their scales.
Both the fluted crowns on the 12.85mm-thick stainless steel case — the one at 2 o’clock for setting the dive scale and the one at 4 o’clock for winding and setting the time on the watch — screw securely into the side to help ensure a water resistance of 300 meters (30 bar) — an improvement upon the vintage model’s 120-meter depth rating. All in all, the watch’s build is more than sufficient to earn it the internationally recognized ISO 6425 certification as a dive watch.
The grained black dial also hearkens back to the mid-20th-century dive watch, along with the distinctive handset, consisting of a wide, arrow-shaped hour hand paired with a sword-shaped minute hand, accompanied by a central seconds hand with a luminous tip — a shorthand way for a diver in the dark underwater depths to see at a glance that his watch is still running. The white-painted indexes, and raised Arabic hour numerals in a retro font, are also luminous-treated, along with the main hands, all in “light Old Radium” Super-LumiNova that adds an appealing, aged look in the daylight hours.
Behind a solid caseback with a relief-engraved image of a diver, Longines has installed its proprietary self-winding Caliber L888.6, which made its debut in the 39mm models launched in 2023. The movement is an upscale version of the previous Caliber L888.5, enhanced with a silicon balance spring and other anti-magnetic components, which provides magnetic field resistance up to 10 times the ISO 764 standard and stores a weekend-proof power reserve of 72 hours. Caliber L888.6 also supersedes its predecessor in the area of accuracy, earning a chronometer certification from COSC, Switzerland’s official testing agency.
Fans of previous versions of the Legend Diver will take note of the other notable new/old element: a meticulously crafted steel-mesh Milanese bracelet that calls to mind the original watch’s 1960s heyday and which is also equipped with a micro-adjustable double-folding safety clasp. In keeping with modern trends toward versatility, Longines also includes a black rubber “tropical” patterned strap with a steel pin buckle. The Longines Legend Diver 59 is priced at $4,100.
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