Longines Legend Diver 36 | First Impressions

Alvin
2 hours ago
4 min read

If you've seen the original legend diver on a mesh bracelet then you've seen one of the most iconic Longines watches, and desk diver watches there has ever been - I mean it's a legend. It used to be a dive watch, it's probably not a proper divers choice these days - even if the new 42mm versions received a COSC-certified chronometer upgrade (a high-precision watch movement that has passed strict independent accuracy tests).

While you might not see this Legend hundreds of metres down in the wild waters of the pacific ocean, you'll see it on many a watch fans wrist. Specifically, the new darling of the bunch, the 39mm. There are loads of colour and strap/bracelet variations. It remains a winner. That one though, at 47mm lug-to-lug, also remains towards the side of 'too big' for many a skinny wrist.

Last month I looked into 'the best' dive watches for smaller wrists, and low and behold, the 36mm version (L3.374.4.50.6) of the Legend Diver makes a very welcome appearance. It looks good at the lower size, but it has been neutered, castrated, stripped of its man balls. It is called a ladies watch, how very dare they! It is not chronometer certified. It does not feature a 'metre' rating on the dial - even though it's good for 300m. It will likely never go (proper) diving on my wrist or anyones elses for that matter.

A bit of a wordy pre-amble there but anyway, after writing that (best small dive watches) post - I got a bit curious. As you do. Or as I do. I started down the road to nowhere. This time though, I ended up going somewhere - finding two of these little Legends on a deal. One was the blue dial with blue sailcloth strap, and then there was the white mother of pearl dial. Ask and eBay provides, though the seller didn't accept offers, there was a fortuitous voucher situation - the latter (MoP) was a few hundred British pounds cheaper, and as I like fancy things - the rest is history.

Longines Legend Diver Wooden box
Longines Legend Diver Wooden box
Longines Legend Diver Wooden box
Longines Legend Diver Wooden box

A few days later a rather massive box appeared. I hadn't clocked this in the photos, but the Longines box is over-sized. It's a bit silly really, especially considering it's a small watch. But it was well packaged and in reasonably good condition overall. The sole reason the box is that big is due to the promotional book that comes with it. It's a cool book, but the size of the box is an inconvenience. I guess they didn't consider the man with a lot of watch boxes under his bed.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND ALL THAT

Mother of pearl is one of the coolest luxe dials you can get, but it's got to show up. My main concern was that it might be a bit dull as I had to really scrutinise the photos to see if it even had a MoP dial. I was pleasantly surprised though, and now I appreciate how hard it is to shoot that dial. It has a nice iridescent sheen to it, subtle colours coming through and playing with the light. Beautiful. An otherworldly lightshow.

On the flipside, let's look at the strap. It's a simple white strap but it comes across as flashy. The showy part of me likes it, it looks great in contrast to my skin and ink. But it is very noticeable, and I don't exactly love that. Hence I decided on a mesh / milanese style bracelet upgrade. I think I also ordered a grey nato in 19mm (an annoying lug width size).

The switch works a treat and brings this watch to life. Even though this is a cheap bracelet from ebay, it looks good. I can see why this is the strap of choice for this watch. I need to buy a proper one as the cheapness is evident on the end link/spring bars. Saying that, it'll do for now. It makes it much more wearable and it just elevates the whole thing.

The size is fantastic and the fact the dial and the internal bezel are similar colours means the dial is making maximum effort to use the as much of the 36mm case as possible. It works very well. On the wrist it feels great, I have embraced the smaller watch life and it is paying dividends, and throwing margin calls at the same time (meaning depositing more cash to cover potential losses, here the loss is the loss of love for small pieces).

First impressions were good then, love the dial and initially thought it wasn't iridescent enough, it gives plenty of pop when it catches the right light, it's a treat. And with mesh bracelet, the vibes and wearability are much improved. I will be searching for a better quality mesh bracelet, and wearing it with a smile.

Yours Legendarily,

Alvin