290 — the higher-beat automatic generation

In brief

One figure separates the 290 from the 340 it succeeded: 21,600 vibrations an hour rather than 18,000. Within Longines' automatic family, that jump bought a steadier rate.

Short history

The 290's higher beat mirrored a broad trend in the Swiss watch industry through the 1960s and 70s, when raising the vibration count became one of the main routes to improving a mechanical watch's perceived accuracy — until quartz redrew the map entirely.

Why it matters

The 290 marks Longines' move to higher frequencies across the automatic range, a halfway house before the modern automatic chronographs such as the L.688.

Watches that used it

• Longines Conquest
• Longines Admiral