Horological Meandering

When it comes to Vintage Chronographs, I don't fear to say that the Longines 13 ZN is the King, the Milestone, and in some configurations, a grail.

You saw some quick pictures of the two beauties we saw at the Paris GTG, here are some other photos.

Sensible souls, stay away!

1/ The Cream Dial:







2/ The Black Dial:













To say all, among all the 13 ZNs I saw, these 2 are my favourites.

1/ Their cosmetic is breathtaking: Nice case, good size ( 37 mm ), great bezel ( which makes me think about the PP 5070 one, in a certain way ), superb dials.

2/ The Mushroom pushers are the cherry on the cake.

3/ What to say about the movement, one of the most exciting, if not THE most exciting of this era ( these two 13 ZNs were made in the mid thirties ).



4 / The only small thing is that the bars are fixed, so it will limit the choice in terms of straps, but a good Nato would perfectl do the job, here.

5/ For the price of a Vintage PP Chrono, you can afford these 2 + a Weems + a Greenlander + a Diver + your cigarettes, newspapers and a good bottle of what you want.

Isn't Life wonderful?

Best.

Nicolas.

...over a Patek any day! The pushers are charming. One of the nice things about these watches is the generous size of the cases -- especially considering their year of manufacture. The cream dialed variant is amazing. Love, love, love!

Cheers,
Daos

No message body

on the cream colored dial along with the red telemetre track.  Both watches are fantastic.  Seeing Andrew's GP chrono and these two has reminded me how much I love vintage/vintage style chronographs.  Thanks for the pictures.

 

Stewart

The Champions League of Chronography.

Best,

Nicolas

 

I didn't take you seriously - no pills.
Need cream to restore life!
Don

To the several 13 ZN I saw, recently.

Best,

Nicolas

Now I'll have these two and Weems and Greenlander and Diver
as well as Gitanes, Talisker and Jutarnji
Thank you
Best my friend
Looking forward your next Longines watches post and your GMT post
and Pan Am post and ...what a series...what a series....
D

Then, the Pan Am posts, as yes, there are two.

Then we'll see, but the Longines 13 ZN may well be for June, yes.

All the best, my good friend.

Nicolas

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No message body

... easily confirm that. These little marvels make life more wonderful, with the enjoyment they produce in the wearer.
The movement, is just a thing to marvel, even for a person like me, with little knowledge about watch mechanics, but with the sensibility to appreciate a thing of beauty, and the art of design in a mechanism of any kind.

It is truely a big predicament to chose one of these two watches from Longines. The cream dial, its colorful scales, gives it a special charme. The black one, got a classic and elegant look to the same theme.

It is true that old chronos with fixed lugs somewhat restrict the possibilities of nice straps to use in them. Anyhow, I found some nice and high quality straps with a hidden inside metal closure, which are the answer for these type of timepieces. A leather set of straps compliments much better a quality classic watch like these you are showing, and gives an extra enjoyment in wearing them on the wrist.

I can well imagine your excitement in sharing these watches with your pals at the last CTG, and I envy you a little for having thes wonderful opportunities to share more and more pieces with your colleagues. I thank you for sharing with us your experiences Nicolas!

Te envio mi afectuoso saludo desde las Pampas australes. Abel.

Wait to see what I have under the sleeve... A While collection of 13 ZN...

When you compare these 13 ZN to modern Chronos, well, how to say it politely?

The battle is not at the advantage of modern Chonos, even the prestigious ones, and you will get these oldies for a big fraction of these modern Chronos, therefore.

Isn't life wonderful?

what? It is not written Patek on the dial, and they are not double sealed???

Un fuerte abrazo, Amigo mio.

Nicolas

. . . and nutritious!"

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I've never ranked the older chronos, but if I did these would be on my "first hand".  Both are magnificent, from the movement to the dial.

Darren

But they used an outesourced movement, as many others, at this time, and they play on another ground, as they were more dressy, I think.

But nicer?

Best,

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-05-13 22:00:07

Really nice dials and movements.

 

Nada que ver con los Longines de hoy en dia, a pity.

 

Thxs.

 

 

Vte

i have no idea what colour it was when it was new, but it has patinated to perfection and the nato is a match made in heaven.

are these both yours or ones i saw in Paris ?

G

... forgot to take my pills and fell in a deep coma because of the shock ...

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Why the Longines 13ZN is considered a "cult" movement?

Based on what I can see, it even does not have an Incabloc (shock absorber).

Of course, the overall watch is extra cool with a design that is to die for.

Cheers,

Nilo

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... wow recently you show us few top vintage chrono. you know these are within my radar now!!!

stefan

I'm waiting for mine to arrive... I hope nothing has gone wrong. Will post when it does.

Also to the 30 CH...

But I think we have some objective reasons to love these movements, don't you think?

I am eagerly waiting for your pictures, Arthur.

Best,

Nicolas