Watch Stories: A 1960's Longines Presidency reference 2611

The stories behind each individual watch can vary so drastically. The watch could be the exact same model and be one serial number apart but live completely different lives. Today we have a Longines Presidency that dates to the 1960’s that unfortunately we only know the recent history of the life it has lived. Luckily, the owner of the watch kept the hang tag for the watch that describes the watch as follows: “Presidency 2611 St. Yel. 17J 14k Case $195.00”

The watch model is the presidency and reference 2611. The watch was sold for $195 back in the 1960’s which would be approximately $1,585 in 2019 when adjusting for inflation - a pretty crazy figure for a simple three hand watch. The watch comes with the original box it was sold with. It is running on a 17J Longines manual wind movement which was very typical of this era and is running as strong as it did when it was manufactured.

The watch was purchased by a collector in New Jersey, USA at an estate sale about 2 years ago. The owner inquired about its history but unfortunately the family did not know much about it. They had found it in their storage and were getting rid of it as they did not want to keep it. They believe it belonged to their Grandfather who was gifted it by his father. They do not remember seeing it on his wrist so they do not believe he wore it much. The collector who purchased it had it checked out by his watch maker to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Upon doing that he enjoyed it for two years until he decided to get rid of it which is how we came upon it.

We hope the new owner will be able to take the watch on rich adventures that will add to its life, that way it will have just as an interesting life as a watch that is one serial number away from it.

You can find the watch at our store here.