Longines Introduces the Conquest V.H.P., an Ultra-Accurate Quartz That Runs Within 5 Seconds a Year

Resurrecting a name from the 1980s with a high-tech quartz movement, which will be launched at Baselworld 2017.

With plain looks that belie the latest generation ETA quartz movement inside, the Conquest V.H.P. harks back to Longines‘ history as a maker of cutting edge electronic timing. The firm’s history in that field started with in 1954 Chronocinégines, a quartz timekeeper linked to a 1/100th of a second camera developed to capture athletes crossing the finishing line at sporting events.

The bulky electronic clocks eventually evolved into precision quartz wristwatches like the Ultra-Quartz of 1969, and the original Conquest V.H.P. that made its debut in 1984. Rate to +/-10 seconds a year, the Conquest V.H.P. – short for “Very High Precision” – was the most accurate wristwatch on the market.

The Conquest V.H.P. of 1996

Longines has revived the Conquest V.H.P. label for Baselworld 2017 with a watch rated to +/-5 seconds a year, or just over 0.01 seconds a day, thanks to the thermo-compensated quartz movement made exclusive for Longines by ETA.

The new Conquest V.H.P. is also equipped with a hands-reset mechanism. If the hands on the dial go out of sync due to shock or magnetism, a “gear position detection” system automatically restores them to their original position, preserving the accuracy of the watch.

The timing unit of the Chronocinégines finishing line camera

Ultra-Quartz of 1969

With a battery life of over four years, the Conquest V.H.P. also features a perpetual calendar that displays only the date, as well a battery end of life (EOL) indicator – once the battery is running low, the seconds hand jumps several seconds at a time.

Two versions of the Conquest V.H.P. are available, a time-only and chronograph, both in stainless steel with a 50m water-resistance rating.

The base model is the Conquest V.H.P. three-hands, powered by the L288.2 (ETA E56.111) movement, and available in 43mm or 41mm sizes.