Longines - 1970s Flagship Ultronic Tuning Fork

WHAT WE LOVE:

The Longines Ultronic is one of the more fascinating watches in 1970s Swiss watchmaking — a bridge between the mechanical era that preceded it and the quartz revolution that would follow it, using a technology that ultimately lost the race to battery-powered quartz. The tuning fork technology was licensed from Bulova's Accutron patents via the ETA/ESA manufacturing organisation, and it gave the Ultronic a seconds hand that glides continuously rather than stepping — the defining observable characteristic that separated tuning fork watches from both their mechanical predecessors and their quartz successors.

The Flagship Ultronic in this blue dial configuration is a lovely piece. The deep blue with its applied silver-tone baton markers and "FLAGSHIP ULTRONIC" text at lower centre is period-correct and in the richest of the colour options the Flagship Ultronic was produced in. The date at 3 o'clock is framed within a white date disc.

WHAT'S INSIDE:

The Longines Flagship Ultronic is powered by the Calibre 6312 — Longines' designation for the ESA 9162 tuning fork movement, a 12-jewel electronic movement operating at 300Hz with an electrical hack feature. The tuning fork vibrates at 300 times per second, driven by a battery and transistor circuit, and controls the gear train through a tiny pawl that advances with each vibration.

FIVEFORTYFIVE SIX MONTHS WARRANTY