Longines Restoration - A Fallschirmjäger's Golden Gift
This time I restore a beautiful, and somewhat weirdly designed, Flagship watch by Longines. The watch has recently spent several years trapped behind a chest freezer but was eventually rediscovered by an old British Army colleague of mine, Sandy Carrick-Buchanan.
************* Major SEA WOLF watches *************
www.majorwatches.co.uk/seawolf/
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Sandy received this impressively finished Longines Flagship from his Godfather who was a German gentleman called William (Wilhelm) Suckro. William had served as a Fallschirmjäger in World War Two, had been captured and ended up living his post war life in Scotland.
The Longines Calibre 340 in this Flagship model has many design approaches which are different from other watches of the period and in these video I show each of these.
Music is from the KZhead Audio Library
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Track: Home For The Holidays
Artist: Tracktribe
Longines is so underated... ...mouvements are so great and beautiful !
Hi @p.a.4928 I agree! Much respect for Longines! Richard
Amazing restoration ! Looks really clean for a this old watch :)
Hi @guerriclc7659... Yes, I was surprised at how shiny this watch was inside! Richard
Hi Richard, thoroughly enjoyed this and admiring your skill and craftmanship. Watched the documentary on NASA/James Webb Space Telescope last night, and this looks even more complex!! William would be very pleased to see his old watch looking so good. Thank you so much. Sandy
Hello Richard, that was a lovely repair on a beautiful watch. What an interesting story of Wilhelm who gave the watch to Sandy.
What a beautiful clean movement Richard. Perhaps you should consider offering a large framed photo of the movement as an optional extra with your service work. Seems such a shame that so many of these gems are hidden away.
Another great job. A beautiful thing, it would have been interesting to see what the timegrapher had to say. With Longines habit of looking to its back catalogue with any luck maybe we can all have one someday.
The watch was quite clean considering the crystal was broken. Might have to consider storing my watches behind my chest freezer!
Haha! Not convinced that this storage approach is going to catch on. Good to hear from you sir! Richard
Thank you for another wonderful video. I appreciate the stories of the owners quite a bit. They give life to the watch as much as the spring. Hope you are well, my greetings from Western New York!
Hi Eric .... Very good to hear from you sir! Very pleased you enjoyed the story behind this watch and I like the way you phrase how you see the part this story plays in the scheme of things. All the best from Wales, UK! Richard
Hello from the US, Richard! I have learned so much from your videos, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into them! Cheers sir.
Beautiful watch! I so enjoy watching you work, it's a true gift.
Thank you for taking a moment to say so! Very pleased you enjoyed this. Richard
That unique movement design is incredible. The unusual rotor is probably made that way to make the movement thinner. Which seems to have been the goal of this entire design, which they did a good job on. Good seeing the piece back in working and presentable order, it deserved the service.
Hi @WyvernDotRed. Yes the guys at Longines designed a really interesting calibre with this 340. Then they implemented it with an impressive finished. Very pleased you enjoyed this. Richard
What a lovely watch......
Happy to begin my Saturday morning with your new video ! 🙂 This Longines flagship watch have a nice and different design and it’s very interesting. Image quality are so nice ✨👌 The final product is really perfect ! Thank you for sharing it’s always really appreciate. Best Regards !
Fantastic video. My wife wears her father’s 1960’s gold Flagship. It’s just spent 6 months in Switzerland with Longines having an overhaul. You make it look easy!
A pleasure to watch. Been with you since I began my journey. Now I understand your care and attention to your methods. Always good to learn from you. Good photography and excellent commentary.
Hi Ross... Great feedback and much appreciated sir! Richard
What a gorgeous movement.. and a great service bringing it back to life ..Kudos.
Nice to see watches from other *major* brands 🙂
Hi Chris ... Yes! It was 'high time' that Longines got some attention from me. They make very nice watches indeed in my opinion. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Richard
Lovely watch and movement, you make this look easy. The sign of a craftsman.
Wonderful restoration, thank you Richard.
excellent job Major, beautiful watch
Great video Richard, very relaxing ! You always put up an amazing work !
impressive how the rotor is directly connected, simple but effective
❤just wanted to say thank you Richard, since I watched your video on the Red Komenderski, you reignited my love for watches… I went from only owning an Apple Watch, to buying that Vostok to nowadays having a collection well over thirty. So once again THANK YOU ❤
Hi @xgford94 ... You have been watching my stuff for a while! Very pleased that you have found it enjoyable and 30 watches is quite a collection! Contact me here ....www.majorwatches.co.uk/contact/ if would like to add a Sea Wolf and make it 'well over thirty' plus one! Thanks for the excellent feedback. Richard
Nice timepiece
Camera work is exceptional now,I am really enjoying your content.👍
Always a pleasure to watch your work. Such an elegant watch, with an intriguing history. Thank you for sharing your expertise.
As a former US Army Paratrooper, I understand the importance of this watch. I wore my Heuer Viceroy Autavia throughout my military days.
Lovely stuff ! Came out nicely.
Superb!!!!
Gorgeous watch. Love your setup. Nice and simple with great tools.
love how different that movement looks
Good job! Beautiful watch!!
Wonderful
Stunning. Thanks for the upload.
Stunning. Excellent work.
It's as beautiful as my Walmart watch.
Bravo!!
Thanks for sharing highly appreciated, having several in my collection, some pretty old and some newer I feel it is an underestimated brand...
Hi @pipodorologio1648 .... I agree! Longines make very nice watches indeed. You are a discerning owner for sure sir! Richard
It's all very well and good showing us it being, dismantled, cleaned and reassembled....but what was wrong with it 😮
Ich habe eine Uhr mit ähnlichem Werk, das L 341. Mit Datum auf der Zwölf. Mein Uhrmacher konnte sie nicht revidieren, weil ein Teil kaputt war,welches er nicht reparieren konnte. Darum wurde die Uhr zu Longines in die Schweiz geschickt. Man sagte mir, daß in der Uhr eine unsymmetrische Zahnkranz-Automatik verbaut sei, die deshalb so kompliziert sei, um mehrere ETA-Patente zu umgehen. Einige Teile sind nicht mehr verfügbar und mußten nachgebaut werden. Aber jetzt läuft sie wieder und sieht aus wie neu. Die Revision hat aber 2500€ gekostet. Danke für das interessante Video und Respekt vor Ihrer Uhrmacherkunst!
Hey Richard, I was waiting for a new video from you, like it like it😎! Ciao ciao from Brussels
Hi Daniel ... It's nice to know folks are awaiting more films from me and I am very pleased this one hit the spot. Greetings to you in Brussels from Wales in The United Kingdom! Richard
Great video and you thanks for sharing your craft with us, why didn't you polish and attach wrist bands to the watch?
How on earth did that breaking on the crystal not damaged the dail very very lucky..... thanks for your work😅
You said it was the equal of a Rolex but I'd say that it was better quality than a Rolex who were really a tool watch maker with pretentions of luxury.. A 1959 Rolex in today's money would be £1,500. I have two Rolex so I'm not a hater - just fed up with the snobbery of the company these days. Great video!
The rotor looked loose when you first took it down. Was it just a loose screw? There also seemed to be some complex wheels/gears. Did you need special oil (i.e. Lubeta)? Beautiful movement and watch. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Richard this Dara from India and my father was a watch repairer and I like watching your videos and repairing but as this mechanical watches have changed to quartz and so lost interest of repairing I loved this mechanical watches as there life were more than this quartz watches
Thanks for posting Richard. I'm curious, if the barrel spring ever breaks, what do you do if it's sealed? Look for a donor part?
Hello Richard, great video as always! I’ve recently started watch making and have serviced 5 watches so far. I also use an ultrasonic cleaner but I’m not having the best of results. What cleaning solution do you use? Thank you! Keep up the good work as always!
Beautiful watch and restoration! Out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about the rotary cleaners?
is this called restoration or servicing? what happened to the case?
Would a 18 carat watch have a higher quality movement as opposed to a stainless ?
Lovely watch. Just right. They're all a bit flash these days. Don't you worry about bits of watch pinging through the gaps in your floorboards? I don't think my ocd could cope with that.
Do you put parts with shellac in the ultrasonic too? I've heard it's not recomended as the parts might fall off with the alcohol
Thought he'd put a new rotor on it.
What were timegrapher readings?
Who makes those lubricant applicators?
But why was it not running before?
Tooth is broke at 19:50
这是一个好表
grid vid
Were you an LE officer?
Hi Peter... No. I was a 'one pip wonder' fresh out of Sandhurst at 19 years old! Seems quite a long time ago! Richard
597 thumbs up
Go Steve! Many thanks sir! Richard
19:12 Sir you are incorrectly applying the tiny hair to the jewel. You're supposed to straighten the hair /before/ applying it to the pallet fork!
Looks over banked at this point
Hi Shane.... Yes, I know the point you mean and that did cross my mind too. But the watch was to be disassembled anyway so I just cracked on. Well spotted. Richard