Legend Diver

The story of the Legend Diver begins in 1960, when Longines presented reference 7042, a diving watch that refined what had already been tried a few years earlier with the Nautilus Skin Diver. The model's most original feature is the bidirectional rotating bezel, placed not on the outside of the case, as in most diving watches, but inside it, protected by the crystal and operated via a second crown positioned at 2 o'clock: a feature that reduced the risk of accidental bezel rotation during a dive, while still allowing a precise reading of elapsed underwater time. The case, with its characteristic "cushion" shape, also used the "Super Compressor" sealing system, a patented mechanism able to progressively increase the gasket's water-tightness as hydrostatic pressure increased with depth — a technical solution shared at the time by several manufacturers but here applied with a distinctive case back, decorated with an embossed image of a diver with a speargun.

After decades off the catalogue, Longines decided in 2007 to revive reference 7042 within its Heritage collection, renaming it Legend Diver: a relaunch very faithful to the original, which retained the 42 mm cushion case, the internal bezel and the dial's graphic layout, while updating the materials (sapphire instead of plexiglass, modern steel) and the movement, now automatic. The very first 2007 reissue had no date window, to remain as faithful as possible to the 1960 model; already from 2009, however, Longines introduced a version with a date at 3 o'clock, a choice that divided the most purist enthusiasts but broadened the line's audience, making it more practical for everyday use.

The Legend Diver fits into a historical moment in which the entire Swiss watch industry, starting in the 2000s, rediscovered the commercial and narrative value of its own archives, relaunching faithful replicas of 1950s and 1960s diving models: within this trend, Longines' Legend Diver is considered among the most successful examples, precisely for the balance between historical fidelity to the cushion shape and internal bezel, and the reliability of a modern ETA-based automatic caliber.