Vintage Longines Ultra-Chron 8317 watch 1971 Serviced UK Warranty

SPECIFICATION

Reference: Longines Ultra-chron 8317-6
Movement: 431 36000 bph
Age: 1971
Case Size: 35mm
Case Thickness: 10mm
Lug to Lug: 39mm
Lugs: 18mm
Condition: Used vintage Longines watch
Box & Papers: No
Case Material: Stainless steel
Warranty: 12-Months Warranty UK only

POINTS TO MENTION

• In great preowned condition with light wear from use
• Case and bezel have some light scratches and marks
• Fully serviced high-beat 36,000 bph automatic movement
• Sunburst dial
• Hands are patinaed
• Longines signed crown
• Paired with an original signed Longines mesh bracelet
  

THE WATCH

The Ultra-Chron is Longines showing its engineering side without forgetting how to make a handsome watch. Introduced in 1967, the name belonged to the brand’s push into high-frequency mechanical timekeeping, but this example also catches the design change happening around it: the conventional round dress watch giving way to a broader cushion case, a metallic dial and a woven bracelet that feels unmistakably of its period.

That combination is what gives this one its presence. The silver dial is restrained until the light catches its fine radial finish, while the small Ultra-Chron emblem supplies the clue that something more interesting was happening beneath the surface. Add the signed mesh bracelet and it becomes a lovely expression of Longines at the turn of the 1970s, precision engineering dressed for a new decade.

A BIT OF TRIVIA

Longines’ interest in high frequency did not begin with the Ultra-Chron. The company traces its work in high-frequency timing back to 1910, and in 1959 developed the 5 Hz Calibre 360 observatory chronometer. The Ultra-Chron brought that thinking into a production wristwatch in 1967. Its first-generation Calibre 431 ran at 5 Hz, with the balance making ten beats every second, serious mechanical ambition at a time when most wristwatches were beating considerably more slowly.

OUR THOUGHTS

We like Ultra-Chrons because the clever bit is not hidden behind a loud watch. This one has the technical story, but what caught us first was the combination of that silver dial, broad cushion case and signed Longines mesh bracelet. It looks like the moment the 1960s handed the drawing board to the 1970s, and the Ultra-Chron emblem quietly tells you why the watch mattered.