Horological Meandering

Oh yes this one is verrrry obscure, Longines lovers! Do YOU know if the Longines Nonius came originally with full polish case? OR.... polished and brushed case? I have found pics with both. I am zeroing in on this watch, with great excitement because it will be my first ch30!!!!! And I wonder if anyone knows this answer. Here is a pic for reference of the model... this one appears to be polished and brushed. But like I said... there's both type finishes in pics all over the net. Thank you.

They mostly had brushed finishes. Unfortunately, as the finish got scuffed with age and use, watch servicers often took the easy way out and just polished them smooth. You see so many like this for sale. I'd bet money that the original was a nice brushed case.

Just for the ch30 lovers here... one of my... maybe my all time favorite movement, along with 13 zn, but the 30ch may be more pleasing to the eye... Look at this masterpiece, and it is 10 times more beautiful in person, ticking away... (Not my pic, do not know who to credit.)

Most of the 60's & early 70's models that came in that shape case had a sunburst brushed finish on the top (radiating as if from the center of the dial) and polished facets on the sides and lug ends, and sometimes the case sides had vertical brushing.

Are you sure it's a 30CH inside? I don't recall that style of case before the early/mid 60's and by that time Longines was using the Valjoux 72 (rebadged as the caliber 330 or 332). What is the case serial number and the movement's serial number?

Just looked at your movement pic and it certainly is a 30CH. What year is it from?

the case-back says 1969. Thank you very much. If you Google Nonius, longines, this watch comes up--with this movement... I believe this model is understood to be relatively rare-- you have a 'wild' '70's design... (though technically it is a late-60's watch.) the dial's sweep hand moves the whole 'Nonius' scale... pretty eccentric.. Yet inside you have a majestic movement... I have never seen one withOUT the ch30... but the three-register version is V72 inside... From what I can gather, these watches were made late 60's/early 70's. This message has been edited by Mostel on 2011-06-26 22:03:15

it does have a lot of charm with the big cushion case.

Check your PM's.