This Is the Most Surprising Tool Watch I’ve Seen in Some Time

Some surprises are good, some not so good.

Published January 16, 2025

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Longines has been around for a long time. The brand was first established in Switzerland all the way back in 1832, making it one of the oldest watch brands in existence.

Despite having been around for 192 years, Longines had never produced a watch with a case made of carbon fiber before, despite basically all of its peers and competitors having done so years ago.

Now, that streak has finally been broken. On the first day of 2025, its 193rd year in business, Longines released its first-ever carbon watch: The Ultra-Chron Carbon.

I’ve spent the past several days with the watch, and it’s the most surprising tool watch I’ve come across in some time. Here’s why.

a longines watch on a table — This isn’t a watch I expected to see from Longines.

The Good Surprises

As Longines’ first carbon watch, I expected the Ultra-Chron Carbon to have a modern feel, but I was shocked at just how contemporary the watch comes across.

The Ultra-Chron is technically a reissue of a vintage Longines model from the 1960s, but you’d never know it from looking at the Carbon. The monochrome colors, the extreme light weight (68 grams), the mix of black forged carbon and matte-gray titanium, the black nylon strap with its vaguely tactical feel … this is a watch that feels very 2020s.

What’s more, the watch is beautiful. The crystal, which isn’t normally something I pay much attention to on a watch, is perfect. It’s just the right height for a boxed sapphire, giving the watch a gorgeous look without causing too much distortion or creating the dreaded “milky ring.” It’s also loaded with anti-reflective coating, which aids in the visibility of the dial.

a longines watch dial glows in the dark — Dials don’t get much more perfectly executed than this.

And what a pretty dial it is. Its design is simple but well-executed. There’s very little text and a pair of applied logos (I love that hi-beat logo at 6) to go along with simple applied indices and hands. Everything on the dial and bezel is perfectly symmetrical, and the dial’s blue-glowing lume is nicely applied and attractive — though I do wish the seconds hand had lume so I could watch that sweep in the dark.

Speaking of the sweep, it’s the best thing about the watch. These days, high-beat automatic movements are normally seen from brands with higher price points than Longines, like Zenith and Grand Seiko, so seeing the almost-perfectly smooth sweep of the seconds hand on this sub-$5,000 watch feels extra special.

I was shocked at how mesmerizing I found the ticking of the 36,000-vph L836 calibre, and I was even more surprised at its accuracy. This thing barely lost a second in three days.

The best aspect of the Carbon, like the previous Ultra-Chron, is the super-smooth seconds hand sweep courtesy of its high-beat movement.

The Not-So-Good Surprises

The most disappointing thing about this watch, by far, is the bezel. It looks like a dive bezel with elapsed time markings, and the watch has 300m of water resistance and a screw-down crown. For all intents and purposes, the Ultra-Chron Carbon is a dive watch, so I assumed the bezel rotated like a dive bezel.

Imagine my disappointment when I received the watch only to discover the bezel is fixed.

This effectively makes the bezel a big tease. Sure, it looks good, but it serves no function. I continually wanted to rotate it while wearing the watch and was constantly disappointed when I remembered I couldn’t. Not only that, but the non-carbon version of the Ultra-Chron, which was just released in 2022, does have a rotating bezel. What gives, Longines?

a longines watch on a mans wrist — The smooth edge on that bezel is a telltale sign that it doesn’t rotate, which is a bummer.

The bezel is also quite large and is made of titanium with an aluminum insert. If the bezel is going to be functionless, I’d prefer to at least see it made of carbon to increase the carbon content of the watch. With the caseback, crown, bezel and even buckle all being made of titanium, it’s really just the mid-case of the watch that’s made of carbon. I’d frankly like to see more of the high-tech material for a watch with “Carbon” in its name.

My only other minor issue with the watch relates to its readability. Because the hands are high-polished, they have a tendency to disappear. Thankfully, their bright white lume plots made them pretty easy to find whenever I lost them, but I’d be lying if I said it was the easiest watch in the world to read.

the caseback of a longines watch — Much of the case, including the caseback, bezel and crown, is made of titanium.

Pricing and Availability

The Longines Ultra-Chron is, without question, a compelling watch. Its use of high-tech materials and its high-beat movement make it feel like it’s from the future, and everything about the design is gorgeous and effortlessly cool.

But the lack of a rotating bezel is a big misstep that I think will prevent the watch from becoming the next huge hit for Longines, which has been on a years-long hot streak. If the brand rectifies this and adds a rotating bezel to the watch, it would instantly rank among my most-wanted watches from the Winged Hourglass brand.

The Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon is priced at $4,900 and is available from a number of Longines authorized dealers, a list of which is available at the link below.

Longines Ultra-Chron Carbon

For its first-ever carbon fiber watch, Longines fittingly turned to its Ultra-Chron tool watch and its high-beat automatic movement, creating a fittingly modern watch for the high-tech material.