Watch Blog

Well here we are, in the heart of the English countryside doing that most english of things - overdressing in a top hat and tails in 24 degree heat! Yes, its Royal Ascot time again and myself and fashion watch diva Keira Payne Gibbs are sipping Pimms and enjoying the finest cuisine, courtesy of Longines watches - the official timekeeper of Ascot.

I know what you're thinking, it sucks to be me right now...and you'd be right! As Longines would say, elegance is truly an attitude!

Longines launch their new calibre Column-Wheel Chronograph simultaneously online and at Baselworld 2011.

Luxury watch companies do not usually descend to the big football tournaments, or consort with the game’s organisers, when they do their branding.

Tradition means a lot at Longines and why not? The 178-year-old Swiss brand may be part of the Swatch Group empire these days, but it has a long history of technical excellence and fine aesthetics. So, if you're looking for that classic Christmas gift...look no further!

Longines as a brand is all about elegance – it doesn’t surrender to the cult of bling or the mania for mammoth-size timepieces – but that doesn’t mean it can’t go all sporty on us when the need arises.

As part of the Swatch stable these days, it is hardly surprising to find Longines taking a page out their parent’s marketing book and trying to be all things to all women. To put it more chivalrously, that translates into producing collections that run the gamut from the more affordable to the more expensive and that range in style from the simple to the ornate.

Swiss watch brand Longines has been around long enough – since 1832 – that it is surely proof against accusations of excessive nostalgia. It has, in a way, outlasted time, to the extent that when it draws inspiration for a watch line from the classic styles of its own past it is really only expressing what is in its DNA.

A new set of Longines watches were revealed earlier this week along with a new brand ambassador for the venerated Swiss watch marque.