ReviewThe New Longines Conquest 1/100 – Made to Conquer every millisecond

The ability to clock events to 1/100^th of a second for a watch is a technological feat, no doubt. Such level of precise recording requirements might not be used by a vast majority of people like us (the average chronograph-user) who are more likely to use the chronograph for mostly pedestrian purposes (eg: timing the cake in the oven, time taken to reach work, how fast we might have been on a highway or maybe even a light jog). But, for the adventurous watch-wearer, especially the one who’s into racing, living on the slopes skiing downhill or scaling a mountain uphill, or maybe into horse racing where each microsecond defines his or her fate, Longines created the Conquest 1/100th Chronograph. And though the watch might have been designed for the adventurer, it has also been developed keeping us, the very average chronograph users in mind, for a steal of a price.

Let’s find out how this collection stands out compared to any other chronograph watch in its class:

Longines and Timekeeping:

Longines has a fairly long history of athletic timekeeping for quite some time now; 1878 to be exact, when they released their first chronograph watch. Since then, the brand has had a role to play in some of the less mainstream and more illustrious sporting events known to the world, which include the Commonwealth Games, Roland Garros (or French Open), Equestrian events including the world championships and a host of other athletic competitions like the World Archery Championships and the Gymnastics World Championships.

All the above events, obviously demand an outrageous level of accurate timekeeping which is, of course, measured by advanced equipment. But you might ask what’s there for the athlete’s own reference?

“ For skiers plummeting down a difficult course at high speed, time is the real challenge, the variable that needs to be controlled in order to join the legends and leave a mark in the history books of the sport. ”

- Walter von Känel. President, Longines on his inspiration behind creating the watch

Enter, the Conquest:

To begin with, Longines created not one, but two special edition watches of the 1/100^th series, namely the Alpine Skiing and St Moritz, both as tribute editions for the respective tournaments. But putting the two names aside, the mechanics and specs of all the watches belonging to the 1/100 family are mostly the same.

What lies under the hood is the ETA powered L440 – a quartz chronograph movement that Longines developed in partnership with Swatch (*Quartz Alert*). But the inclusion of the quartz mechanism is, in fact, a notable benefit to the overall functionality of the watch. Not only is the movement extremely accurate, but L440 comes equipped with a microcontroller with flash memory that allows the “adventurist” to actually record split times and instant resetting, something you’ll find only in high-end, super-expensive mechanical watches.

Longines say the project of the 1/100 was executed keeping ski-enthusiasts in mind, who’ve long desired a watch that can measure gate-by-gate intermediate times without much hassle.

Designed for the Adventurer:

Keeping all that we’ve discussed so far in mind, a handy chronograph tool watch shouldn’t at all be bulky for the wearer which is why the case of the conquest measures in at 41 mm – neither too big, nor too small. Made of stainless steel and well protected on both sides, the Conquest also conquers another feat in terms of durability: water resistance, which is at 30 bar or 300m with a screw down crown (we’re in dive watch territory right now).

The Alpine Skiing version has a black dial with red indicators whereas the St.Moritz edition comes with a white dial and fluorescent indications. Both dials are similar with a single applied Arabic numeral at 12 o’clock and eleven applied indexes with Super-LumiNova coating. The dial is, of course, protected by sapphire crystal.

And because this watch falls well into the dive watch territory, the hands are rhodium plated, with the central second’s hand swiping at 1/100th of a second when engaged. Subdials include a 30-minute counter at 2 o’clock, a 12-hour counter at 10 o’clock and small seconds at 6 o’clock.  The bezel of the conquest has been given a polished look whereas the lugs are left brushed.

The Price? (Spoiler alert: It’s a steal)

If at all I’ve convinced you to become an athlete or daredevil after describing the features of the watch, and you have it in you to gather the ability to time events to 1/100th of a second (plus you don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket for a watch of this calibre) the Longines Conquest 1/100th Chronograph is a fine bet.

Sure, the watch is no El Primero or Speedmaster, but it does everything an average chronograph lover would look for in a watch, i.e. simply put, accurate time recording, superb water resistance, a sturdy stainless steel case and the backing of an illustrious brand.

In fact, the mechanical world itself doesn’t have many watches that can offer you this level of accuracy for such a price. Which reminds me, the Conquest 1/100 is easy on the pocket at INR 84,500, less than 1/3^rd  the cost of its closest mechanical competitor, Zenith El Primero.

If you’re looking for “the perfect chronograph” for a fair deal, well, this one’s the one.

Discover the Longines Conquest Collection

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(Image courtesy: Longines)