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WATCH
TIRE KEY RING
LONGINES
CIRCA 1950
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Longines is a prestigious Swiss watchmaking company founded in Saint-Imier in 1832 by Auguste Agassiz.
The brand takes its name from the place called Les Longines in Saint-Imier, where the factory is located.
The winged hourglass, the iconic emblem of the brand, is the oldest registered design, still in use and unchanged, in the records of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Longines has a dual activity as a watch manufacturer and sports timekeeper. Indeed, the company has been, and still is, a major player in sports-related activities.
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The article presented here is a perfect example of this, especially in the field of motorsports.
In January 1949, cars from all over Europe took part in the first Monte Carlo Rally after the Second World War. Timekeeping was entrusted to Longines and remained its privilege for over 30 years. In 1955, the Saint-Imier company launched a special punching instrument, the Printogines. Equipped with a clock with an 8-day power reserve, it allowed competitors to punch their own verification card at each checkpoint, over a distance of more than 5,000 km.
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Reliable and robust, this device determined the official times of the winners from the passages recorded by the drivers at all checkpoints. The system proved so useful that it was used to time all the most famous races of the time, including the Alpine Cup, the RAC Rally of Great-Britain, the TAP Rally in Portugal and the Thousand Lakes Rally in Finland, not to mention the Acropolis Rally in Greece or the Ivory Coast Rally in Africa.
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This tire keychain watch is a rarity because it is signed by Longines. A true piece of history, which is the ultimate link between two common passions, which are watchmaking and vintage cars.
The winding of this caliber 19.4, a well known model and equipping most of the Longines men's wristwatches of the time, is mechanical, accessible by pivoting the dial on a 180° axis. The dial is in its original state and has not been restored, as well as the tire which shows a slight burn in one place. The glasses are new and identical to the original. The skeleton movement is beautiful and it makes it a real nice object, original and out of the ordinary.
Collector.
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