Longines for Birks Open Faced Pocket Watch with Original Dial, circa 1921
By Birks
Located in Long Beach, CA
FACTORY / HOUSE: Longines for Birks of Canada STYLE / REFERENCE: Art Deco Open Faced Pocket Watch METAL / MATERIAL: Yellow Gold Filled CIRCA / YEAR: 1921 DIMENSIONS / SIZE: Diameter 45mm MOVEMENT / CALIBER: Manual Winding / 15 Jewels / Caliber 18.89 DIAL / HANDS: Original Gilt Dial with Kiln Fired Enamel Printing by Stern Freres / Blued Steel Hands WARRANTY: 18 months on the movement LIFETIME SERVICE COMMITMENT Henry Birks and Sons is the most famous house in Canada, the Cartier of Canada. This unique watch was produced for Birks by Longines. Impressively, the dial was produced for Longines, for this watch by the house of Stern Freres. The Stern family were the most renowned dial house in Switzerland. They were so successful that in the early 1930's, after falling into bankruptcy they purchased the Patek Philippe Watch Company. Stern still owns Patek Philippe to this day. The dial on this watch is in flawless original condition. Longines was founded in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz, a Swiss watchmaker. He was also the brother of renowned biologist Louis Agassiz. Agassiz started the company with two partners, lawyers Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel. The company's original name was Raiguel Jeune & Cie. In 1846, Raigeul and Morel retired from the watch industry, leaving Agassiz as sole company head. Several years later, Agassiz brought in his bright, enterprising nephew, trained economist Ernest Francillon, into the business. Francillon was the mastermind behind several impressive innovations that would distinguish the company from its competitors. In 1880, Francillon trademarked the Longines name and its winged hourglass logo. The winged hourglass is a symbol of precision and timekeeping, and it has become one of the most recognizable logos in the watch industry. In 1912, Longines became the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games. The company has held this position ever since, and it has been involved in every Olympic Games since then. Longines has also been the official timekeeper of many other major sporting events, including the World Championships in Athletics, the Formula One World Championship, and the America's Cup. In 1931, Longines invented the Lindbergh Hour Angle watch. This watch was designed specifically for Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The watch featured a special bezel that allowed Lindbergh to calculate his longitude. In my own personal collection, I have the Longines Caliber 13 ZN Chronograph that Commander Richard Byrd took to Antarctica in 1928. It was purchased at the time from Abercrombie and Fitch in New York along with all the other equipment used on the expedition, it still runs well and keeps good, even after 100 years. In the 1980’s I was privileged to view their “collection” in their vaults. It was not open to the public, but a contact arranged it. There were examples of all the finest pocket and wristwatches they had ever produced. This included all the pieces that had received navigational and chronometer ratings. They were not even arranged for presentation; they were merely in drawers. I was shown the collection by their renowned “springer.” I have forgotten his name, but he was responsible for adjusting the watches to win the chronometer ratings. He was probably 80 years old at the time. Interestingly but not surprisingly he could only speak to me about adjusting the hairspring but not about the watch in general. This is something that is not uncommon in the watch world. A craftsman will only know about the part of the watch that they are responsible for. When I produced my own watch in Geneva many years ago, I realized that the dial maker and case maker and other associated craftsmen knew almost nothing about what each other did. This seemed odd to me, but it is that way. Lastly, our family jewelry store in Los Angeles was an official Longines retailer so I can speak from personal experience that Longines is an exceptional watch company regarding their service and dependability. They are also famous for the “Ultra Chron...
