“The world’s  most accurate watch”

When released in 1967, the Longines boasted that it’s Ultra Chron was “The world’s most accurate watch”. A bold call! But, even bolder, they took the unusual step of specifying its accuracy to be within 1 minute a month……That’s 2 seconds a day! 

So, what did Longines do to achieve this phenomenal accuracy? Well, apart from designing a superbly efficient movement, the in house 431, they were one of the first to produce one that beat at 36000 beats per hour (bph). And, the higher the beat rate, the more potentially accurate the watch will be.

Longines weren’t the first to achieve this, Girard Perregaux did it a year earlier with their 32A movement and Seiko developed the manual wind 5740C also  in 1967. (I’m not sure whether it was Longines or Seiko who came second)

This watch is a nice 37 mm across the case (ex crown) and only 8.5 mm thick. It sits beautifully on an average wrist. The applied index markers, logos, date window and hands are all finished to the highest standard. Add to all of that a subtle  iridescent, off white dial with  a radially brushed finish and this watch presents most elegantly.

The hi beat movement also gives this watch a pleasant aesthetic quality as well. The second  hand moves much more smoothly than the lower beats do, almost gliding rather than ticking.

This watch also has one of my favorite features, the all too rare instantaneous date change. At around midnight the date will flick over to the next day instantly instead of crawling for over an hour or more.

During the 60s, the three most desirable watch brands were; Omega, Rolex and Longines. With models like this Ultra Chron it’s easy to see why Longines was part of that elite group.

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