The Longines Charleston 150th Anniversary (Ref. 176.5228): 1832-1982 in a Dress Quartz
The Longines Charleston 150th Anniversary (Ref. 176.5228): 1832-1982 in a Dress Quartz
Some watches simply tell the time; a few, quietly, tell you how long a house has been keeping it.
In 1982 Longines turned one hundred and fifty years old, and rather than shout about it the Saint-Imier firm did something characteristically restrained: it slipped a small winged hourglass and the numerals "150" onto the case backs of a run of elegant, thin dress watches. The Charleston was one of them — a piece that wears its milestone on the inside, where only the owner and the watchmaker will ever see it.
This is a hands-on look at the Longines "Charleston" 150th Anniversary quartz, reference 176.5228, a gold-plated dress watch that commemorates the 1832–1982 anniversary of one of Switzerland's oldest continuously operating watch marques.
Historical Context: 150 Years From Saint-Imier
Longines traces its birth to 1832, when Auguste Agassiz entered a watchmaking comptoir in the Vallée de Saint-Imier in the Swiss Jura. Under his successor Ernest Francillon the business consolidated its workshops on a plot beside the river Suze known locally as "Les Longines" — the long, narrow meadows — and by 1867 the name and the winged-hourglass emblem were fixed. That emblem, registered in 1889, is among the oldest unchanged trademarks in the world, and it is the same mark that appears, dated, on the back of this watch.
By the early 1980s Longines had a long pedigree in precision — chronometry prizes, aviation navigation instruments, sports timing — but the industry around it had been reshaped by the quartz revolution. A commemorative model launched for the 150th anniversary therefore sat at an interesting junction: it borrowed the visual language of a classic mechanical dress watch — Roman numerals, a sub-seconds register, blued hands — while running on the accurate, low-maintenance quartz technology that defined the moment. The Charleston name evokes the 1920s and the Art Deco flourish of that decade, and the styling leans deliberately vintage rather than modern.
These anniversary pieces were produced across several case shapes — tanks, rounds and cushion forms — and dial variants, all sharing the engraved "LONGINES 150" case back that ties them to the 1982 celebration. They were mid-range luxury dress watches of their day, sold widely across Europe, and they survive in reasonable numbers.
Key Historical Milestone. Longines was founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier; its winged-hourglass logo, registered in 1889, is one of the oldest unaltered trademarks in continuous use, and the "150" anniversary pieces mark the 1832–1982 sesquicentenary. (Source: Longines brand history / company heritage records.)
Reference Number & Dating
The reference on this example is 176.5228, confirmed by the owner. In Longines' period numbering the leading block relates to the movement/model family and the trailing "5228" identifies the case model — the round, sub-seconds Charleston. Reference and calibre are consistent with the anniversary run offered around 1982, and the engraved commemorative case back places the piece squarely in that year rather than as a later reissue.
Dress quartz Longines of this era pair a slim gold-plated case with a stainless steel back and a leather strap, and the Charleston 176.5228 follows that recipe exactly.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model / Reference | Longines "Charleston" 150th Anniversary, ref. 176.5228 |
| Case size | Approx. 32 mm (excluding crown) |
| Case material | Gold-plated case with stainless steel back |
| Movement | Longines quartz calibre L176.2 (ETA 980.163 base) |
| Dial | Cream / eggshell, "Longines Quartz", black Roman numerals, railway minute track, sub-seconds at 6 |
| Crystal | Mineral / hardened glass of the period |
| Water resistance | Splash-resistant dress watch; not for swimming |
| Strap | Black leather strap |
What the Case Back Tells You
The steel case back is the piece's signature. It carries an engraved "LONGINES 150" with the winged-hourglass emblem — the anniversary mark specific to the 1982 celebration — alongside a case serial (this example reads approximately 2056545). On a genuine anniversary Charleston that engraving is crisp and integral to the back, not a stuck-on medallion or an aftermarket etch. A clean, correctly engraved back with a legible serial is one of the strongest quick indicators that a Charleston really belongs to the commemorative series.
Authentication note: confirm the engraved "150" logo and serial on the steel back, check that the calibre marking inside reads L176.2 (ETA 980.163), and verify the dial printing is sharp and correctly spelled — these three together are hard to fake convincingly.
The Dial
The dial is where the Charleston earns its name. Against a warm cream-to-eggshell ground sit slim black Roman numerals, ringed by a fine railway-style minute track that gives the face its period, almost pocket-watch character. The line "Longines Quartz" sits below the winged-hourglass logo at twelve, stating plainly what the watch is without apology — in 1982 quartz was a selling point, not something to hide. Blued Breguet-style hands sweep the hours and minutes, their colour shifting from near-black to bright steel-blue as the light moves across them.
A recessed sub-seconds register sits at six o'clock, a detail that instantly reads as classical rather than digital-age. It is the single feature that does most of the work in making a quartz watch feel like a traditional dress piece, and it is why examples with the small-seconds layout are the ones collectors reach for first. The overall impression is quiet, warm and formal — a watch designed to disappear under a cuff and reward a second look.
What Originality Looks Like
An unspoiled dial shows even, gently aged cream tone rather than blotchy or water-stained patches; crisp, well-registered printing on the numerals and the "Longines Quartz" text; and blued hands that still hold their colour without flaking or rust. Be wary of dials that look too white or too flat — a refinish often loses the subtle warmth and mis-spaces the Roman numerals or the minute track. Redials frequently get the logo proportions or the sub-seconds ring subtly wrong, so compare against known-good period examples before assuming a face is untouched.
Inside the Watch: The Longines L176.2 (ETA 980.163) Quartz
Under the dial is Longines' calibre L176.2, a Swiss-made quartz movement built on the ETA 980.163 — the "Normflatline" family of thin quartz calibres that ETA supplied across the industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is the natural choice for a slim dress watch: compact, flat and accurate, with a small-seconds train driving the register at six. The closely related L178 shares the same base and differs mainly in the position of the sub-seconds hand.
| Movement Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Analogue quartz, Swiss made |
| Caliber | Longines L176.2 (ETA 980.163 base) |
| Winding | Battery-powered; no winding |
| Frequency / Jewels | 32,768 Hz quartz oscillator; 11 jewels |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, sub-seconds at 6 |
| Upkeep | Periodic battery change; occasional service and gasket check; keep old batteries from leaking |
The Case
The case is a slim, round gold-plated form of roughly 32 mm, closed by a stainless steel back — a construction typical of quality dress quartz of the era, where the plating carries the warm colour and the steel back provides durability and a stable surface for the engraving. At this size and thinness the Charleston sits flat and discreet on the wrist, unisex by modern standards and unmistakably formal.
What to Look For on the Case
Gold plating is the honest weak point on any watch of this type: check the high-wear zones — lug edges, the case flank, around the crown — for brassing where the base metal shows through. Light, even wear is normal and part of an honest vintage look; heavy brassing or a re-plate that fills the engraving with a soft, blurred finish is what to avoid. The steel back should be clean with legible engraving, and the crown should pull and set cleanly without grinding.
Condition & Authenticity Checklist
| Checkpoint | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Case back engraving | Crisp "LONGINES 150" winged-hourglass mark and a legible serial, integral to the steel |
| Calibre marking | Movement reads L176.2 / ETA 980.163; clean, corrosion-free |
| Dial originality | Even cream tone, sharp printing, correctly spaced Roman numerals and minute track |
| Hands | Blued Breguet-style hands intact, coloured, no rust or flaking |
| Sub-seconds | Register at 6 running smoothly and aligned to its markers |
| Plating | Only light, even wear; no heavy brassing or a smeared re-plate |
| Function | Keeps quartz-accurate time; no battery leakage or stalling |
Market Value
The 150th Anniversary Charleston is an accessible vintage Longines rather than a rarity, which is precisely what makes it appealing: a genuine piece of house history in wearable, everyday-formal form. Pre-owned examples in good, honest condition typically trade in the low-to-mid hundreds of francs, with clean or serviced small-seconds examples commanding the upper end and near-new-old-stock pieces with box and papers pushing higher. Project watches with tired plating, battery damage or a redial sit well below.
| Scenario | Indicative Range (CHF) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NOS / mint, boxed | 450 – 650 | Unworn or near-unworn, original strap, papers |
| Pre-owned, good | 280 – 420 | Honest wear, original dial, running, recently serviced |
| Project / poor | 100 – 200 | Heavy brassing, redial, battery damage or non-running |
Collector insight: value here rides on originality more than on the gold, since the plating is thin — an untouched dial and a crisp anniversary case back matter far more to price than a mirror-bright case.
Analysis: This Specific Example
Dial & Case Assessment
This example shows the traits collectors want: a warm cream/eggshell dial with clean black Roman numerals, an intact railway minute track, the "Longines Quartz" line correctly rendered, and blued Breguet-style hands that read as original rather than replaced. The gold-plated 32 mm case presents as an honest, well-preserved dress watch. Assuming the plating carries only light, even wear, this sits comfortably in the "pre-owned, good" bracket and leans toward its upper edge.
Movement Assessment
The L176.2 (ETA 980.163) is a dependable, serviceable quartz calibre with no scarcity of parts or knowledge among watchmakers. Kept to fresh batteries and a periodic gasket check — and protected from the one real enemy, a leaking cell left in too long — it will keep quartz-accurate time indefinitely. There is nothing exotic to fear here, which is part of the watch's quiet appeal.
Overall Assessment
What lifts this particular piece above a generic vintage quartz is the confirmed reference, 176.5228, and the engraved "LONGINES 150" case back with its ~2056545 serial — the two details that anchor it firmly to the 1982 anniversary series. It is a coherent, honest, correctly-specified example of exactly what it claims to be, and it wants only sensible upkeep rather than restoration.
Why the Charleston 150 Matters
It would be easy to overlook a small gold-plated quartz watch, and easier still to undervalue it. But the Charleston 150 is a deliberate object: a house with one of the longest unbroken histories in Swiss watchmaking marking a century and a half not with a grand complication but with a modest, beautifully judged dress watch — and hiding the celebration on the case back, where it belongs. It captures a specific moment when Longines chose to carry its classical design language into the quartz age without embarrassment.
Worn today, it does what the best small watches always do: it keeps good time, disappears under a cuff, and rewards the person who knows what the "150" on the back means. Some watches are bought as investments and some are simply lived with — and the ones that get worn, dated quietly on the inside and passed between the people who love them, are usually the ones worth keeping.
Brothers in Watches · Deep Research Watch Report · Longines "Charleston" 150th Anniversary, ref. 176.5228
Sources & further reading: Longines brand and heritage history (founding 1832, Saint-Imier, winged-hourglass trademark); ETA / Longines quartz calibre references for the L176 / L178 family and the ETA 980.163 base (movement archives and caliber databases); and pre-owned market listings for reference 176.5228 from vintage dealers and marketplaces for indicative value ranges.
