One of the Best Vintage-Styled Dive Watches Just Embraced a Surging Trend

Most modern dive watches are heavily influenced by designs from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the genre exploded along with the aquatic hobbies that made them fashionable and necessary.

But the Longines Legend Diver represents an older chapter in submersible timekeeping.

Longines

Longines introduced the Legend Diver in 1959. At the time, it was simply called the Longines Diver and was often referred to by its case name, the Super-Compressor.

It was an evolution of the Nautilus Skin Diver, introduced a year earlier, which included an internal rotating bi-directional bezel. The dial and hands were carried over from the Nautilus and remained unchanged until the introduction of the new 29mm Legend Diver in 2023.

Longines

The dial and bezel are pragmatic and straightforward compared to the bold and adventurous designs of the subsequent generation of dive watches. Similarly, the case fits the universal format of the day, before chunky elliptical and angular dive cases were invented.

Old looks, new specs

Longines revived the Legend Diver under that name in 2007, keeping the original 42mm stainless steel case and upgrading the water resistance from 120m to 300m.

Longines

Several dial colors and strap options were introduced in subsequent years, and a bronze case was even released in 2020, when that was in vogue.

In 2023, Longines was an early adopter of the current sub-40mm case trend when it released the Legend Diver, which had a 39mm case and a new stainless steel “beads of rice” bracelet (we have a hands-on review here).

Photo by Johnny Brayson for Gear Patrol

While the dial design remained unchanged, lume on the hour hand was extended from a diamond tip to the whole hand, and the second hand took on an arrow shape with a lumed tip.

It was introduced with the original black dial and a navy blue alternative. Three new dial colors were added to the fold a year later: bronze, green, and gray.

Longines

This iteration also introduced the caliber L888.6 automatic movement, helping to make it the first reference in the series to be fully certified by the COSC, Switzerland’s official arbiter of timekeeping excellence.

A perfect summer watch

Longines is now expanding the Legend Diver line with a white dial, and it has never looked better suited to live on your wrist all summer long. The brilliant satin white creates a sleek uniform blend with the polished steel case and bracelet.

Longines

An inverse of the original dial design, the minutes track and stencil-style applied indices are matte black. The baton-shaped hour markers are tipped with lume, and the numeral hour markers have fully lumed batons beside them.

The previously polished steel hands are now matte black with Super-LumiNova filling, which is also applied to the triangle internal bezel key.

Longines

Longines has a reputation for producing luxury caliber watches at approachable prices. At $3,550, the Legend Diver can’t be classified as “affordable,” but it is a bargain nonetheless.

It is striking how much a pearly-white dial elevates the look of this otherwise unchanged 1950s tool watch. The newly elevated look secures the Legend Diver as the best dive watch in Longines’s catalog and one of the best summer watches on the market.

Availability and pricing

The Longines Legend Diver in white is available now from Longines boutiques for $3,550, and will soon be available online.

Unlike other dial colors in the 39mm Legend Diver, the white is only available with the steel “beads of rice” bracelet at launch.

Longines

Longines Legend Diver

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Longines caliber L888.6 automatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $3,550 at Longines

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