Don’t look now, but Longines is having an uncommonly strong year. The release of the reworked HydroConquest dive watch in March remains one of the most discussed new releases of the year from a major brand, and their quiet but smart update of the Master Collection in June was also well received. Last month, they launched a new version of one of the more curious watches to be plucked from their archives in recent years, and while it’s certainly more of a niche product than the diver or the classically styled pieces in the Master Collection, it shows that the brand is still considering the enthusiast in spite of what is clearly a larger, big tent approach focusing on core models.
The Longines Conquest Central Power Reserve in light blue is the third such watch following cream, anthracite and black dials introduced in 2024. These are incredibly charming watches in person, and lift from a design that originally debuted in 1959. It’s a fairly straightforward watch, with the central quirk (literally) being a power reserve indicator represented by a subdial in the dead center of the dial. The date appears at 12:00, and studying the dial reveals an idiosyncratic sector-like layout that is easily readable and visually interesting.
The case of the Longines Conquest Central Power Reserve measures a tidy 38mm in diameter and 12.3mm thick. That is a tad taller than I’d typically like on a watch in this style, but I think it’s the price we pay for a modern, tech forward movement with a long power reserve (the L.896.5 caliber has 72 hours of power reserve and a silicon balance spring, and it’s made exclusively for Longines). With this watch, we also see the debut of a bracelet for the Conquest Central Power Reserve, which changes its character significantly. Personally, I’m more inclined toward this one on a strap, but the new dial color might feel a little sportier and more contemporary, and thus lend itself to a bracelet in a way the more classic black and cream dials do not.
And I am quite fond of this new light blue dial color, which Longines has been weaving throughout their new pieces all year. The color feels anachronistic to me in a good way – this tone would almost certainly not have been used on a watch in this style in 1959, so it separates it just enough from its history to be something other than a pure recreation. I also like the contrast of the black text on the dial and the silver applied dial furniture. It’s all just very clean and easy to look at.
The new Longines Conquest Central Power Reserve is available now through Longines authorized retailers. The bracelet version retails for $4,400, while the version on a strap sells for $4,300. Longines
