If the Longines Conquest was initially designed to be a sporty waterresistant watch, it drifted in the 80s to something more sophisticated to follow the general trend of this period allowed by much smaller and thinner quartz movements. The materials used were as well more refined, with titanium, gold, sapphire crystals.
This new generation of Conquest was considerably smaller than the previous one, with cases measuring only 33 mm in diameter and were mostly equipped with quartz movement. However, a few models had an automatic movement, the L990, which was the last “calibre de manufacture” design by Longines before adopting ETA movements.
We will focus on one of these automatic Conquest, the Las Vegas with a titanium case and bracelet.
Presentation
As I mentioned it, this generation of Conquest is small with a case that is only 33 mm wide. The design is very typical from that time, with a mixture of two different metals (titanium and gold plated steel). The watch itself is very flat with only 7 mm in height. The titanium is easily recognisable with its dark toned grey coloration.
On the wrist, the watch looks quite small but I have to say that I like more and more mid-sized watches, they are so much more comfy, we even forget that we have a watch on the wrist, and they remain easily readable.
The dial & hands
The dial of this Conquest is finally quite conventional compared to the case for example. It’s matte, without any texture. The hour markers are represented by thin batons and three dots at 12, 6 and 9 o’clock. The date is displayed at 3 o’clock.
The Longines logo and the “automatic” mention are located at very standard positions, written like on most Longines dials. We can notice that the name of the model isn’t visible on the dial.
The hands are simple golden pencils.
The case
The titanium case is mostly round with thick lugs. The bracelet is fixed to them with a pin and not a spring bar, we can say it is integrated to the case. The back is simply pressed in the case and has a crystal at the centre. The dimensions are 33.5 mm x 37 mm x 7 mm. It was a great performance to make a 7 mm thin automatic watch, with a sweeping second and a date window. That was made possible thanks to the L990 movement which is extremely flat (3 mm) and thanks to the flat sapphire crystal.
On this particular Las Vegas model, you can play roulette with the rotor, there is a red pointer on it and when you shake the watch, the rotor spins (of course) and when it stops, it points to a number engraved on the transparent back. There are three different scales, one on the very center with numbers from 1 to 4 in japanese Kanji, a second one on the glass and a third one on the metal rim of the back.
The crystal is an unscratchable flat sapphire. The crown is quite simple, not signed.
The bracelet is made of titanium as well, alterning golden central links and bigger titanium links. The buckle is very nice, with a roulette represented on it, beside the brand.
The movement
The L990 movement is very notorious for severeal reasons that I already mentioned before. First, it is very flat (less than 3 mm), that is very striking. It’s quite small as well, it was perfect to be cased in smaller housings, as it was the trend in the 80s.
The technical specifications of the movement are top level, it has two barrels, with two springs working together for more stability in the force transmitted to the mobile parts of the caliber and has 44 hours of reserve. It beats at 28,800 bph, has the hacking second and an instant date shift at midnight. Several variations of the calibre were available, with or without second, with or without date (L992, L993, L994), with 17 or 25 jewels.
It’s interesting to know that the movement has been later exploited by Lemania under the reference 8815.
In conclusion
This Longines Conquest is a kind of UFO in the production of the 80s, the quartz versions are so easy to find, tons of them have been sold but this automatic version is scarce , with its top level L990 movement. If one prefers smaller watches, this model should abolutely ravish a watch fan.
| Brand | Longines |
| Model | Conquest Las Vegas |
| Year | ca 1985-1990 |
| Calibre | Longines L990.1 |
| Jewels | 25 |
| Rate | 28,800 bph |
| Complications | Date |
| Case material | Titanium |
| Width | 33.5 mm |
| Length | 37.0 mm |
| Lugs | – |
| Dial | Grey or white |
| Hands | Pencil |
| Crystal | Sapphire |