Longines Hydroconquest Automatic Chronograph Watch Review (L3.744.4.96.6) - Perth WAtch
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- Review of this beautiful diver from the noble house of Longines, featuring the exclusive L688 automatic column-wheel chronograph movement!
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LONGINES Hydroconquest Automatic Chronograph L3.744.4.96.6 (feat. Calibre L688)
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I recently purchased the 41mm automatic hydroconquest and love it. It's a fantastic watch for the money. The build quality is top notch and the movement has been accurate to about plus 3 seconds per day. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for that! Yeah it is indeed a top notch watch, glad you are enjoying it! :)
My father in law gifted me his Longines Automatic Master, a beautiful little dress watch. If that watch is a good indication of Longines quality than I'm absolutely sure this one would feel solid and nicely finished. And I love how they decorate their movements)
Thanks for sharing that... yes I do think Longines have a great standard of quality in their pieces, at prices that do not break the bank in comparison to many other brands.
hello Ivan. thanks for the review of one of my favorite watches. Longines has always been in my collection from the beginning. Again, I haven't bought one yet in last 15 years and my old ones are being used by my wife. I think that she got about 60% of my watches from my collection. ha ha ha.
Longines is one of the brands that continues to market/advertise and develop something nice (not unique, but nice and keep up with watch trends). I think that it is one of the best entry luxury brands there is.
As for this watch, besides the bit of disappointing clasp, everything else is really awesome. Specially I believe that it is a great deal at $1400 when most of Ginault (Rolex Sub Homage) comes in between $1300 to $1600. And Monta at $2000. And they are not even Chrono movements and not even close to exclusive movement!
Again, besides the clasp, I can not really say anything negative about the watch designs. Excellent dial, perfectly designed and laid out sub dials & bezel. nice case back design and everything else. Due to pressed clasp, it sounds bit jingly. If they can spend a hundred dollars more to put much nicer clasp (like Ginault & Monta Ocean King), yes, definitely I would consider buying one for myself. Thanks for the review, Ivan. and good day to you.
Haha all respect to your wife, she obviously has good taste :)
I do think Longines is an underrated brand that flies under the radar, and this piece does offer something special particularly in view of the very reasonable price. Glad you enjoyed watching this :)
Longines are fabulous, my second favorite after Omega!
They're underrated and fly somewhat under the radar I reckon... all the better for us as it means they remain very affordable :)
@@PerthWAtch can you take this watch in water 😎👍
@@PerthWAtch can you take this watch in water 😎👍
Yes
Yes
Awesome review as usual, Ivan! I really like it when you review personal pieces as it helps the owner, in this case me, understand and get an unbiased third party opinion of it.
I do believe that Longines would absolutely slay the market if they used the movement of this watch to build a race chronograph, like the Daytona or Speedmaster, and a dress chronograph.
Thank you for putting out your perspective on the watch.
Christian
Cheers for lending it in Christian 👍
Awesome guys, thanks for chipping in! It was a pleasure to road test and review this, thanks again Christian for lending a watch that many should find interesting to hear about :)
PS. I do try to be as objective as I can, but I guess I might be a little biased... after all, it'd be pretty thick skinned to borrow a watch from a friend and then sledge it in a review! ;P
I have only quite recently discovered Longines as a brand, and I must say: I'm really impressed. The quality and finish they deliver for the money is virutally unamtched. Only last week I went into the jeweller to try on the new 2019 hydroconquest diver. Wow. For 1400€ (Yeah, continental here, do the math and subtract tax for dollars) this is the best watch I could buy:) It's just too polished. I'd have to baby it in a way I don't have to for the price of two Seiko's and a lot of change.
Thanks for that... I'm not sure if your overall view is positive or negative in light of your final statement! For around that price the Oris Aquis or Diver 65 range are very strong competitors I would say, but the Hydroconquest is indeed a great piece :)
Thanks Ivan and Christian for lending it in for review. Substantial piece this one. Wouldn't forget you were wearing it. The clasp doesn't bother me too much as its often a trade off with thickness and if you are wearing it at a desk slimmer can be better but agree for the money i would like to see a nicer one 👍 when you consider grey market price it seems a good overall package but not one for me.
Thanks Sam... yeah there are certainly some subjective preferences on the design being brought up here. Overall, it remains an excellent value package I reckon, but one does have to like the style to punt out for it :)
No worries at all.
It is a watch that is well and truly within most people's reach and I do hope that this review might be enough to tip the scales in favour of purchasing the watch to somebody that is on the fence about it.
Just purchased this watch in Miami at the Longines boutique at Aventura Mall. Love it!
Nice one!
Very good and detailed. Good pictures. Best review of this watch, that I found on youtube so far. Good job!
Haha that’s awesome - thanks man!
An absolutely stunning timepiece, I am just not happy with the hands on this watch. Thanks for this review.
Thanks Joop... interesting, another viewer has commented on not liking the hour hand!
This is very interesting. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but it does seem to be a dressier rendering of a tool-type chronograph, and I do like that movement a lot. Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks Randy - glad you enjoyed the video :)
Great brand and great watch.
Thanks, agreed indeed! :)
A handsome piece, if a bit small. :) You did point out that it wears larger than its spec. Similar in street price to the Certina Diver Chrono w a Valjoux movement. Interesting that the "quick date" is in the same position. With the Certina, I put it down to homaging their sister brand Omega's Planet Ocean Chrono's escape valve.
I like the pushers and their integration with the crown guards. Keeping that high water resistance rating with that design must take some doing. Pity the Bulova Moon Watch, with vaguely similar lever pushers doesn't have similar water resistance. It does have the great advantage of price, however, being quartz.
Thanks for that - interesting to hear that the Certina has the same type of pusher position! I did think it was a helium valve, and then wondered about the homage idea, but then again many other movements do have a 10 o'clock pusher.
I think it's a well priced Longines mechanical chronograph, despite the pointed out negatives.
Yes, I do think it is indeed a very well priced watch for what you get :)
Beautiful watch, slightly too large for my taste right now but it’s so much cooler than a Rolex. I would consider buying a Longines for sure
Thanks for the comment - perhaps a more plain 41mm Hydroconquest model then?
HI, I was just trying to find the email adress of the place where I bought my Hydroconquest and came across your response to my comments about my watch. Sorry for missing it. I'm expecting the watch back from Longines by the end of the week. Hopefully they'll have sorted out the lume problem. You don't like white faces on "tool" watches - I specifically wanted the white face on this watch. It's subjective. I've seen at least one other hydroconquest with black "piping" around the hands, but Longines didn't see fit to put it on this model. I said it could loose 2 maybe 3mm height and you agreed that there are 13mm diver chronographs. 15.4mm minus say 2.4mm equals 13mm. I'd be happy with that. Oh, and by the way, please don't call me "mate". I'm fussy about who my mates are. I'm off back to fantasy dreamland! Ciao.
You need to reply in the same thread so the conversation can be followed. It’s not subjective - it’s personal for you, that’s ok. But tool watches should have black or dark dials. There is no such thing as a 13mm thick automatic chronograph diver - show me one and I’m happy to be proven wrong. But it has to be one that’s outside of your fantasy dreamland. Cheers! ;)
A very well done review.
Nice that the watch has a unique movement and not another Vallioux 7753. However, I really don’t like anything about it.
To much polishing, especially the bracelet center links. Don’t like the dial. It really should have screwdown pushers if it’s 300m WR.
I never had a column wheel Chronograph. I have a few cam lever Chronographs. You have to push the pushers pretty hard to activate, stop, and, reset the Chronograph, but it feels very solid.
Thanks for the positive feedback. Screwdown pushers would be nice to have, although I would hasten to add that Omega doesn't put these on their Seamaster chronographs either. The column wheel supposedly gives a much smoother feel to activation, it is subtle but in my experience it does work out to be true.
@@PerthWAtch can I take this watch in a pool 😎👍
Yes
Longines has some nice watches , you don't really hear much about them. MY wife has a nice Longines we purchased a few years ago .... now she wants another one ... exactly the same ... can't find one ! :(
Yeah they do fly under the radar these days, a bit of a "forgotten" brand, yet most people know of it. Why does your wife want another of the same watch?
Impressive watch. I came by it when searching for a chronograph which could still handle substantial dives, as I am a free diver. This is the only chronograph I have found that can handle this level of water resistance despite not having screw down pushers. I have not been able to find anyone who can explain how they figured it out. Can you help me with an explanation?
There should be others… eg. Omega Seamaster 300m chronographs. The screws on the pushers do not actually give water resistance… they just prevent the user from operating the buttons inadvertently underwater, which would result in water ingress when under high pressure.
Beautiful watch thanks Ivan 😁
Most welcome - Thanks to my mate Christian :)
Its a handsome piece with a great movement, but I can't get past that stubby hour hand or slab-sided thickness, so sadly it's a "nope" from me.
I do like the brand as a whole though, & consider Longines to be "the new Omega".
Fair enough... I don't mind that hand set myself, a la Tudor - do you not like Tudor then? I think Longines is more like "the old Omega" :)
Nice review, I have recently bought the ceramic bezel version and its an excellent watch especially at the price. I don’t think it has a vertical clutch though as you state.
Thanks for that - yeah that's a mistake, I was misled by some sources which said it was a vertical clutch but I have since found out that it's a horizontal clutch.
welcome back teacher watch awesome good
Thanks man, everything is awesome! :)
Is this a dubois depraz movement? Because the minute subdial's hand moves gradually as opposed to 7753's tick after every 60 seconds. Reason I ask is because they can probably modify a 7753 to be a cloumn wheel too. I would appreciate a response.
Check out the video for details on the movement :)
Well, where do I start? Let's start with my criticismes.6 months ago I bought mine from a big watch dealer here in France for €1500 which was the cheapest on the mrket at the time. It had never been worn, in as new condition. It has an off white dial with the minute sub-dial sporting a red ring, giving the dial a nice pop. And the dial is where my problems commence. The hands are polished chrome which provides too little contrast against the white dial. In strong sunlight they are all but invisible. My biggest gripe is the second hand at 9.00pm, it too is chrome and again mostly invisible. Why not red like the other two sub-dial hands?! One needs to see the hand clearly to check the wathch is running. This is supposed to be a "diver"! Well, the lume is so feint it disqualifies the watch in that category. Wake up at 4.25am and one has to turn the light on to tell the time! The time keeping is very poor, loosing more than a minute a day, although this has to be a fault, I'll take it in before the warranty runs out.
Everyone goes on about the column wheel, well I find the buttons way to stiff and not helped by them being sloped. I hate the clasp, it's cheap and nasty. My model doesn't have the polished centre links, I wish it did. I've seen some comments where owners with the polished links hate those. If anybody out there wants to swap?...
The crown is buried between two protective sloping posts. Unwinding and rewinding the crown I find unnecissarily fiddly, I'll have to get the tool. It's way too thick, 15.4mm! It could easily loose 2, maybe 3mm. It's solid allright, I've developed a limp lugging it around.
So, are there any positives? Well, only one that springs to mind - I absolutely love this thing! For all it's "faults" and faults are subjective, I wouldnt change anything (except the bracelet). It's a quality piece of kit at a great price, and that, in 2023, is pretty rare! The tiny second hand I'll get chaged at some point, ditto the bracelet. Then I'll be one happy bunny.
Thanks for taking the time to share those comments. Not sure what was wrong with yours but the lume on this one I borrowed worked much better than your description. And I certainly wouldn't get a white dial when it comes to any tool type watches such as this diver chronograph... white makes little sense IMO. But if you must have a white dial, then polished chrome hands would kill it. They needed to make the hands black PVD or similar.
Column wheel doesn't necessarily make the buttons less stiff... but a vertical clutch should make the chronograph seconds start smoother. The clasp and polished links... well I agree with your comments there.
Your perception that this could lose "maybe 3mm" is not rooted in reality - there is no such thing as an automatic diver chronograph under 13mm... you need come back from fantasy dreamland mate!
You sound like you’d make a perfect commentator for a cricket match.
Interesting... is that a good or bad thing? ;)
Man I bought the blue dial (ceramic bezel) version and at least on the rubber strap it wears more like a 44/45mm. Not even close to wearing like a 41 or even 42mm…
Interesting - thanks for the feedback
Hi, appreciate your content. I'm in my 50s but something confuses me, hopefully you could help. Luxury mechanical watches, come in models with different sizes of the same particular watch with same movements like 39 mm, 41mm and so on. Wouldn't increasing the dial size cause longer needles and make the watch movement use more power, so technically they probably could be a difference in power reserve and accuracy of the same watch with the same movement but different dial sizes? Will appreciate your reply, thank you. Keep up the amazing work!
Fair question Justin. I’m not an engineer but my understanding is that the energy use would be mostly involved in turning the numerous gears that drive the hands, rather than just the hands themselves. So technically longer hands may consume more energy but the difference would be a small percentage... and probably translate to minutes of difference.
@@PerthWAtch Thank you for your guidance!
I'm really intrigued by the Hydroconquest and Conquest watches, but I dont like that polished center link. Do they make a version with a brushed bracelet?
Dunno mate, if you're interested in that I'd jump onto their website to look ;)
Dumb question as I'm new to mechanical chronos, but can you run the chrono constantly so that it behaves like a seconds hand?
Not dumb at all actually, but rather a much debated question. Two issues:
1. Yes you can, but many don’t recommend it as it shortens the power reserve (hours the watch runs) and increases wear for many designs. This one I think is vertical clutch so wear isn’t as much an issue.
2. Some chronographs will stop running after a full turn of the sub-dials (eg. 6 or 12 hours) which defeats the stated purpose.
Great review. This or the Tag Heuer Aquaracer automatic blue ceramic bezel 43mm? I imagine the inner working are better on the Longines than the Tag but not sure it as striking to look at. Similar price point (with haggling). Opinions welcome!
It’s a tough choice look wise for me, I do like both of them. Are you referring to an Aquaracer chronograph? If just the 3 hander then movement wise there is no comparison - the Longines gives a lot more watch for the money.
I appreciate you replying to me on this. I was actually referring to the three-hander as I do prefer an automatic watch to have a big sweeping seconds hand. I'm very impressed with the movement of the Longines but really love the face on the Tag Heuer. Buying a first watch is hard!!
Does the Longines three-hander use the same mechanism for movement as this Chronograph?
@@iaindalby7322 No, there is no 3-hander that uses a chronograph movement... that makes no sense.
Haha, I apologise for the confusion, I meant does the seconds hand have as smooth a sweep?
Very nice review.
Thanks mate!
my fiance has offered to buy me a watch for the wedding and I straight away chose a Conquest....not a chrono though. Is it just me that these chronos utilise the second hand for the stop watch function? my OCD goes nuts seeing the second hand at 12 o'clock not doing anything. Good review mate, cheers
Using the central seconds as the chronograph second counter is pretty standard for analog chronographs actually. If it bothers you, can always just keeping it running all the time (although this is not advisable in horizontal clutch models...).
@@PerthWAtch understood, thanks, I'd rather the standard Conquest though, it's understated, handsome and flexible, cheers
Does it have a vertical clutch ?
Can’t remember now - what did I say in the video?
It has lateral clutch, mistakenly stated as vertical clutch in the video. No biggie! It just means the chrono shouldn’t be run continuously for more than 12 hours.
Yes
The bezel is tight and didint play back right ? I like tight bezel
Yes, bezel good!
Are these really screw links. Got a hydroconquest and dont have screw links.
Really no joke
Nice watch
Yes it is :)
@@PerthWAtch - I forget to mention I have one. Owned for over 2 years very under the radar excellent time piece
How much price
See video
hi，do you know where can I buy it??
Yes, sure, please check out the links I provided :)
I can order
That’s is amazing!
Anyone know what the EFC on the caseback means?
I don't what you're talking about - there is no "EFC" on the case back.
@@PerthWAtch But there is. Pause the video at about 5:45 as the case back is being shown. Above the winged hour glass you'll see the letters EFC. They must stand for something. I'm curious as to what they mean.
Ernest Francillon & Compagnie =EFCo
How much in USD ?
Check to links
nope not for me ... doesn't .. tick my boxes...
Fair enough. I'm curious... what particular boxes are on your checklist?
Another poor man's Breitling.
What others?
@@PerthWAtch Sorry for answering 9 months late. I don't get notifications. The other one I had in mind was the Revue Thommen 7750 watch with the reverse panda dial.
:)
;)
Ugly watch. I would have preferred all blue without the stainless steel look on the chronographs and lines
I think those are there to differentiate from the background and provide contrast... not sure if it will be better or worse without!