# Help in identifying vintage 14K gold Longines watch...



## rhiekel (Oct 15, 2010)

Help !! I have a 14K gold Longines watch I am trying to figure out it is. It is about 60 years old. I wish to sell it, so am also trying to arrive at a value. It must be rare, as I cannot find one on the internet...


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

Please read the stickies at the top of the forum. Valuations which are not just guesses are not possible over the Internet and we don't do them. If it is solid 14kt, it is worth at least melt (melted down value of the gold) plus some.

A pic of the movement will give us dating (serial numbers will date). It looks thin enough to be a 990 family...

The design is typical of the 50's and 60's.


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## ulackfocus (Oct 17, 2008)

Eeeb said:


> It looks thin enough to be a 990 family...


Well, it's a manual wind or it would say "Automatic" on the dial, and definitely pre-1977 so that leaves out the 990. I agree it's a 50's or 60's watch. The 3 main manual wind movements Longines used in that era were, in chronological order: the 22L, 23Z, and 370. The subdial of that watch is too high to be a 370 (introduced 1960) - most 370's seconds subdial never got that close to the center pinion and were low enough that the subdial would force a cut off of the indice at 6. The 22L (introduced 1946) is a possibility as it was still around in the 50's, but was not nearly as common as the 23Z which was released in 1948. The most likely movement in that is the 23Z if it is an in-house Longines movement. However, it could even be a ladies watch caliber inside because of the thinness.

I gave an answer about value on the other forum you posted, but here's a link to help you find completed listings on eBay: https://www.watchuseek.com/f295/how-find-value-your-watch-436469.html

That should give you an estimate of what similar watches have recently sold for. Good luck with your sale.


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## John MS (Mar 17, 2006)

rhiekel said:


> Help !! I have a 14K gold Longines watch I am trying to figure out it is. It is about 60 years old. I wish to sell it, so am also trying to arrive at a value. It must be rare, as I cannot find one on the internet...


The style looks like mid to late 1950's to me. It's a nice looking dress watch. When I look at the pictures my first impression is that the dial may have been repainted at some point. That effects value to a collector. There are very few rare watches and I don't think a Longines from the 1950's will fall into that category. If it is truly 14k and you want to maximize your money then consider two ways of valuing the watch.
1. Meltdown value. With the price of gold at high levels, find a local gold foundry and get an estimate.
2. Search closed Ebay sales for comparable Longines watches. Only consider watches that actually sold.


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## rhiekel (Oct 15, 2010)

I have written am email to Longines who were very helpful , except they wanted to know the serial number on the movement. Great I thought, no problem. Except the two fine watch shops I took it to here in Thailand had no idea how to take the back off.
Think they were afraid of damaging it as well. I am attaching a few more pics of the back of the watch, perhaps someone could give a few tips on the best way to open it. Thanks in advance....


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## jedanzoom (Mar 29, 2008)

If it is mono-case,movement is going out in front.


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## bjohnson (Nov 28, 2006)

+1

Remove the crystal and the movement comes out the front

Don't go back to any watchmakers who didn't know this. There is no predicting what other basic knowledge they lack.


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## rhiekel (Oct 15, 2010)

Got it !!! Finally found a watchmaker who could take it apart. Sent a letter to Longines, and they came right back to me. Apparently the watch had no name, uses the 19.4 movement, and was sold in America in 1964. I did some searching on the internet, and came up with a dealer selling the exact same watch for about $ 900. So I will put mine for sale at about $ 550 and see what happens. Is there any particular site that is the sort of bad boy for a watch in America ??


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## rhiekel (Oct 15, 2010)

Got it !!! Finally found a watchmaker who could take it apart. Sent a letter to Longines with the serial number, and they came right back to me. Apparently the watch had no name, uses the 19.4 movement, and was shipped to America in 1963. I did some searching on the internet, and came up with a dealer selling the exact same watch for about $ 900. So I will put mine for sale at about $ 550 and see what happens. Is there any particular site that is the sort of bad boy for selling a watch in America ??


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## Jltorcz (Jan 1, 2016)

This is interesting. You sent a letter to Longines directly and they gave you some information? I just found a watch my husband received in 1958 and I am trying to find out more about it. So I guess I will try to send off an email to Longines.
thanks,
J


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