SPECIFICATIONS
Beautiful Serge Manzon X Longines Ref. 5016 with a solid 925 silver case, Longines-ETA 7102 quartz movement, from the 1970s.
925 silver case measuring 27mm
Lug-to-lug measuring 36.8mm
Original logoed crown
Original crystal
Original crocodile strap
Original buckle
Original box
Longines-ETA 7102 quartz movement inside
ANALYSIS
When you think of the most famous creative synergies between designers and illustrious watch brands, the line created by Serge Manzon for Longines is perhaps the first to come to mind. Serge Manzon (1935-1998) was a versatile artist active in France. Initially trained as a gem dealer, he later developed a remarkable aptitude for sculpture and industrial design. His aesthetic language blends the influence of Italian “Radical Design,” which in the post-1968 years challenged rationalist canons, with the rediscovery of the “Streamline Modern” (or “Art Moderne”) movement of the 1930s, a style combining curvilinear volumes and rigid geometric elements.
This fusion of currents gave rise to the Manzon collection, composed of twenty models commissioned by Longines and first presented at Baselworld in 1973.
This incredible timepiece is a piece of high design imbued with the superior craftsmanship guaranteed by Longines.
Surrounding a square dial with a minimalist layout – a monochromatic purple-brown surface punctuated by a white cross that divides it into four parts, creating geometric submultiples – is a thick, solid 925 silver square case. It has the rhythm of a monolith: its structure and volume recall something archaic, like a primitive stele or the base of a Doric column. The concept of multiple and submultiple in this watch is further echoed in the lugs, which are conceived as external bodies geometrically shaped like parallelepipeds and attached to the case so as to pivot. This sense of movement of the four lugs slows and softens the absolute formal rigidity of the entire composition. On the inside side is the only circular element that breaks this rhythm: the original logoed crown, which is also miniaturized so as not to interrupt the “architectural” structure of the case.
The watch is further enhanced on the wrist by its original brown crocodile strap with its original pin buckle.
Under the caseback, secured to the case by four corner screws, lies the Longines-ETA 7102 quartz caliber.
