SPECIFICATIONS
Extraordinary Longines Super Compressor Ref. 7594 “Legend Diver”, with a 42mm stainless steel case and an in-house automatic 290 movement from the mid-1960s.
42mm stainless steel case
Original hands
Original crowns
Original rehaut
Original tritium
Longines automatic 290 movement inside
ANALYSIS
The history of diving watches is rich in discoveries and patents; it is full of technical and technological endeavors to push men beyond the limits of the ocean depths. In this scenario, Longines has made its timely mark. After launching its “Nautilus” Skin Diver in 1958 (ref. 6921), which experimented with the Compressor case patented by Ervin Piquerez, the following year the Maison was ready to launch the diver’s watch that gave rise to the unique and recognizable design of the “Legend Diver”. The 1959/1960 reference 7042, with its Super Compressor case, its two signature crowns, and its internal rehaut, launched a new era of dive watches. The natural descendant of that same watch, our reference 7594, increased the diameter to 42mm and strengthened the two crowns to push the watch to a depth of 200 meters.
The dial of this stunning watch is matte black with a gilt finish. The fonts of the Arabic numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12 are immediately recognizable and immediately recall this iconic diver’s watch. The rectangular hour markers feature beautiful ivory-colored luminescent paste applications. The dial is surrounded by a distinctive bidirectional bezel ring, operated by its crown. The hands are distinctive in shape, especially the arrow-shaped hour marker, which features a recess at its tip for the luminescent paste.
The stainless steel case is in perfect condition despite having been fully used and utilized for the purpose for which this watch was designed. It is solid and robust, as Piquerez’s Super Compressor patent included a system that exploited the increase in water pressure relative to depth to tighten the caseback to the body of the case, ensuring the watch’s water resistance. The caseback features a distinctive diver’s design, while the two oversized crowns protrude from the right side of the case, their upper portions typically featuring intersecting lines (this detail is also characteristic of Super Compressors).
Powering this icon of diver’s watches of all time is the Longines manufacture calibre 290: it is an automatic calibre with a bi-directional rotor produced by Longines since 1960, it has 24 jewels, a frequency of 19,800 vph and a power reserve of 45 hours.
