I’ve felt that the Legend Diver, at 42mm, is a very nice looking watch but just not well suited to my own wrist. That’s why I find the 39mm versions that came out a few years ago so appealing. Still, there were plenty in the community who have always loved this case size, either for the way it wears, its fidelity to the original design, or a combination of both. I imagine those fans of the larger versions of the Legend Diver will be very happy with the Legend Diver 59.
I suspect Longines is calling our attention to the date in the name of this watch to highlight their intent to make it feel like a watch that has seen some action over the course of many decades. The dial is matte and has a fine, textured finish that looks really nice when the light hits it, and provides a pretty substantial contrast to the glossy dials found throughout the rest of the Legend Diver collection. A more subtle change in this edition of the Legend Diver are the sandblasted hands and indices, which are complemented by “old radium” colored lume.
The Legend Diver 59 runs on the L888.6 caliber, a movement made by ETA exclusively for Longines that is COSC certified. It has a power reserve of 72 hours on a full wind, and silicon balance spring that is resistant to magnetism. Other specs to note include a water resistance rating of 300 meters, and a case thickness of 12.85mm. The Legend Diver 59 is available on the new Longines mesh bracelet that first appeared on the Hydroconquest earlier this year. This is a really nice bracelet, and I think it works even better on the Legend Diver 59 than the Hydroconquest.
The retail price of the new Legend Diver 59 is $4,100. It’s interesting to take note of Longines’ pricing strategy here, as the new Legend Diver sits well above the new Hydroconquest, which starts at $2,400. The Hydroconquest was rightly praised as an excellent value when it showed up a few months ago, and while I don’t think the Legend Diver 59 is necessarily overpriced at around $4,000, it seems that Longines is pitching it to a more niche segment of the market as a more luxurious product, while they’re happy for the Hydroconquest to cast a much wider net covering both enthusiast and more general watch consumers.
More information on the new Legend Diver 59 can be found on the Longines website, here.
Zach Kazan
2026-05-18 20:00:00