Longines Presence watches

The Longines Présence, often written without the accent as Presence, is a line of slim, classically styled watches in steel and gold. The Présence Heritage shows the style: a 38.5 mm automatic, 9 mm thick, on the Longines L609.3 calibre, based on the ETA 2895-2, with small seconds over the 6 and blued Breguet-style hands. It looks vintage but is not a reissue of a historic model.

Présence models are named Automatic or Quartz. The quartz watches run from 20 to 38.5 mm and the automatics from 25.5 to 40 mm. Where both exist at the same size, the case tells them apart: at 38.5 mm the quartz L4.790 is 5.6 mm thick and the automatic L4.921 8.3 mm; at 30 mm the quartz L4.320 is 6 mm and the automatic L4.322 7.6 to 8.6 mm. Small Seconds versions add a subsidiary seconds dial at 34.5, 38.5 and 40 mm, the 40 mm L4.905 with Roman numerals.

Many gold-coloured Présence models are steel with a gold PVD coating rather than solid gold, and several also come in a red PVD finish. Solid yellow or pink gold cases exist from 23.5 to 37 mm. Dials are white, champagne, silver, black or blue, with Roman numerals or stick markers.