The Longines RailRoad - Continuing Tradition

The Longines RailRoad timepiece is the closest in terms of reissue to its original.

Back in the 1960s, not many brands fulfilled specific requirements in terms of aesthetics, quality and precision for watches to be used for rail road purposes. Longines did.

The original version of the RailRoad has the words RR 280 - RR stands for Rail Road and 280 is the original calibre that drives the timepiece.

With the reissue, the timepiece now comes with a new calibre. The 888 which is an ETA based calibre manufactured for Longines. The dial is polished white dial with black lacquered hands.

And what's with the "0" at the twelve, you ask? In the tradition of the 24 hours dial layout, the creators of the timepiece followed that convention with zero hours signifying midnight and 12 being midday. The steel case timepiece is 40mm in diameter.

And for once, I am happy that they actually removed the date making it cleaner in my humble opinion. And to complete that vintage look, Longines uses a raised sapphire glass with multi-layer anti-reflective coating.

The solid case back is equally fascinating. The engraving is inspired by the original decorations found on pocket watches designed for railway companies in the 1920s. Underneath the hood is the automatic Calibre 888 which is an ETA movement exclusively made for Longines. Provides 60 hours of power reserve far better than the original calibre 280.

With their long history in watchmaking, I can see Longines making a strong comeback with more timepieces paying tribute to their origins.