There’s no shortage of vintage-inspired watches these days, ranging from ones with a smattering of design touches that look like they belong to another era to straight-up reissues of historically important pieces. In fact, if we look at popular watch brands such as Omega, Longines, Tudor, Breitling, and others, we see that these companies have been regularly dipping into their archives and reviving old watches for a new generation to enjoy.
Here are some of our favorite modern reissues of vintage watches, available right now.
Longines Heritage Military
Longines is no stranger to vintage watch reissues — the brand has a whole Heritage collection dedicated to these types of revivals. One standout piece we are currently swooning over is the Longines Heritage Military (ref. L2.819.4.93.2), which is a contemporary iteration of a pilot’s watch from the 1940s made for the British Royal Air Force.
The Longines Heritage Military features a 38.5mm brushed steel case, which is slightly larger than the model that inspired it but still restrained by today’s standards. The lugs are narrow and curved while the crown is oversized — a standard feature of aviation watches made in the early to the mid-20th century. The crystal above the dial is fashioned from modern scratch-resistant sapphire, yet its domed shape is faithful to the watches from that era. The dial of the Longines Heritage Military is clearly retro-inspired, complete with hand-sprayed brownish-black flecks to emphasize that aged look. The blued steel hands are shapely while the rest of the dial is beautifully stark with just a dozen Arabic numerals and a rail track around the periphery.
Although an original RAF pilot watch from the 1940s would have a manual-winding movement, the modern Longines Heritage Military reissue runs on an automatic movement with a generous 64-hour power reserve.
Tudor Heritage Chrono
In 1970, Tudor unveiled its first chronograph collection in the form of the Oysterdate chronograph 7000 series. A defining characteristic of these vintage Tudor chronographs is a funky dial with unconventional pentagon-shaped hour markers, which paved the way for the “home plate” nickname. Forty years later, Tudor released the Heritage Chrono collection with watches inspired by those groovy chronographs from the seventies.
The Tudor Heritage Chrono 70330N-0006 is a modern take on the famous vintage Oysterdate ref. 7031 — but with a handful of thoughtful tweaks. For instance, the current variant is slightly larger with a 42mm steel case (compared with the original 40mm diameter) and it runs on an automatic movement rather than a manual winding movement. Furthermore, the bezel is not a fixed tachymeter; instead, it’s a 12-hour rotating bezel that can serve to time events or display a second time zone. Fun fact, that bezel is taken from the vintage Tudor Oysterdate ref. 7033, which was a prototype and never produced for the public.
The gray, black, and orange dial of the Tudor Heritage Chrono is faithful to the original, right down to the pentagonal hour markers, handset shape, date window, and two subdials for running seconds and a 45-minute counter.
Breitling Avi Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition
Breitling is another luxury watch brand with a rich archive that the company can draw upon. Take the Breitling Avi Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition, which is an accurate reissue of the watch affectionately known as the Co-Pilot.
Like the original, the Breitling Avi Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition has a 41mm steel case, bidirectional bezel, highly-domed Hesalite crystal, and a black dial with oversized Arabic numerals. What’s more, there are three subdials for running seconds, a 15-minute counter, and a 12-hour counter. Also similar to the original Ref. 765, the modern Avi Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition runs on a hand-wound movement. However, in this case, it’s the in-house Breitling Manufacture Caliber B09, a COSC-certified caliber developed specifically for historical re-editions. Breitling has upped the water resistance of the Re-Edition to 30 meters (100 feet) and dropped the “Genève” text under the Breitling name on the dial.
The Breitling Avi Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition is limited to only 1,953 examples, and each piece is engraved “X OF 1953.”
Omega The 1957 Trilogy Set
1957 was a momentous year for Omega—that was when the brand launched a line of professional watches comprised of the first Speedmaster chronograph, Seamaster 300 diving watch, and Railmaster antimagnetic watches. In 2017, Omega painstakingly recreated this trio to mark the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster, Seamaster 300, and Railmaster.
The Speedmaster 60th Anniversary Limited Edition (ref. 311.10.39.30.01.001) is a remake of the ref. CK 2915-1, the Seamaster 300 60th Anniversary (ref. 234.10.39.20.01.001) is a remake of the CK 2913, and the Railmaster 300 60th Anniversary (ref. 220.10.38.20.01.002) is a remake of the CK 2914. While the modern reissues are remarkably close to the original vintage watches, Omega did take the liberty of fitting them with better bracelets with sturdier clasps.
Individually, the watches are each limited to 3557 pieces. However, Omega also released a Trilogy Set with all three models, limited to 557 sets. The set is presented in a beautiful Swiss oak box, which also contains a leather watch roll, with three spare leather and NATO straps as well as a wooden spring bar changing tool. A major difference between the anniversary watches sold individually and those that belong to the set is that the latter includes the word “TRILOGY” on the dial along with its limited edition number.
The Appeal of Modern Reissues
A big benefit of modern reissues is that they’re built according to contemporary specs, which means better materials, better movements, and in some cases, better proportions for the modern buyer. So you get the super cool style of an old watch but without the hassles of vintage watch ownership.
If you're looking for a vintage-inspired watch, make sure to check out luxxee's powerful search engine, which brings you all the best listings from the world's top watch sites.
