Why This $2,200 Watch Has the Internet Divided

I can't open Instagram without seeing another video about the new Longines HydroConquest. The watch — a generational redesign offering multiple colors, sizes, and bracelet options — has been polarizing to say the least. I've seen plenty of opinions on both sides, from collectors calling it the best-looking dive watch Longines has ever made to others dismissing it as bland and derivative. So what do we actually think of it?

What Longines Actually Did Here

New Longines Hydroconquest in Black on Milanese bracelet. Image Source: aBlogtoWatch

In hindsight, we probably should have seen this design coming. The new HydroConquest ditches the outgoing version's large Arabic numerals at 12, 6, and 9 o'clock. In their place is a cleaner geometric index layout: triangle at 12, circles at 6 and 9, rectangular batons filling in the rest. This dial layout is borrowed from the 2023 HydroConquest GMT — a watch I remember quite liking upon release.

The lineup now offers two sizes — 39mm and 42mm — both measuring 11.7mm thick, which is slim for a 300-meter diver. Every color is available in both sizes: black dial with black bezel, black dial with blue bezel, blue dial with blue bezel, green dial with green bezel, and light blue dial with black bezel. The new Milanese bracelet is available on all but the green, for some reason. Rather than a builder or configurator on Longines' website, it's just a grid of references.

Powering all of it is the Calibre L888.5, an ETA-based automatic built exclusively for Longines. It runs at 25,200 vph, carries a 72-hour power reserve, and uses a silicon balance spring that gives it magnetic resistance well beyond ISO 764 requirements. That same movement sits inside the Legend Diver, which retails for $3,850 on bracelet. The new HydroConquest costs $2,200 to $2,400, depending on configuration.

The Criticism

Longines Hydroconquest green dial, green bezel. Image Source: Teddy Baldassarre

Alongside the praise — and there's plenty of it, including watch writer and photographer Kristian Haagen floating the idea that this is probably the best-looking dive watch Longines has ever made — there's a vocal contingent calling it bland, derivative, and soulless. The word "Submariner clone" comes up a lot.

I understand where that's coming from. The ceramic bezel, the curved crown guards, the new circular hour indices — it does read as a canonical dive watch in a way the old HydroConquest didn't quite. Those Arabic numerals gave it a lot of personality, but also may have prevented some people from buying it. This version is cleaner, more wearable, and for better or for worse, more anonymous.

Image Source: Hodinkee (TanTan Wang)

But I don't think that makes it lazy. Longines looked at what the HydroConquest GMT got right in 2023, applied those lessons to the core collection, and delivered a watch that a lot of people will actually want to buy and wear. If they were catering to an enthusiast audience, the watch wouldn't have a date. This is product development in an extremely and increasingly competitive price segment.

Who Longines Is Actually Competing With

It's worth remembering where the HydroConquest sits in the market. Longines is a Swatch Group brand — sitting above Tissot and Hamilton in the group's hierarchy, but below Omega. At $2,200 to $2,400, the new HydroConquest isn't quite comparable to something like the Tudor Black Bay 58, which is $5,350 for the new-gen model on a 5-link bracelet. Realistically though, this watch is being cross-shopped with Tudor — you can also get a used old-gen Black Bay 58 (above, left) for around $2,500.

In terms of direct competitors, Longines is up against the growing independent and microbrand space, often occupying that $1,000 to $2,500 range. This article isn't a side-by-side spec comparison — and I'll admit I'm biased, working for Monta and quite liking the Oceanking (above, right) — but there are a ton of independents that the new HydroConquest is up against. Brands like Christopher Ward and Oris come to mind, not to mention Seiko, which offers compelling divers at every price point. Longines is up against stiff competition with a $2,200 dive watch.

My Take

Longines Hydroconquest, Frosted Blue dial, Milanese bracelet in 39mm. Image Source: Teddy Baldassarre

I think this is a good release for Longines. It's an agreeable design with a good spread of options: colors, sizes, and an alternate bracelet. The 39mm in Frosted Blue on the Milanese mesh is the one that keeps pulling my attention — it's the most distinctive combination in the lineup, and I'm a sucker for a Milanese bracelet. Of course that configuration is a Longines boutique and website exclusive.

What I keep coming back to is this: a watch that generates this much conversation not two weeks before Watches & Wonders has clearly done something right. The people calling it soulless and boring are still watching the videos, still leaving comments, still sharing the posts — and in a very crowded market, that kind of noise is exactly what Longines was looking for.