The following is an official press release document provided by Longines for this limited edition (600 Sets Total) Pocket and Wrist Chronograph Set made in 1999 for the 120th Anniversary of making Chronograph watches :~

Stopwatch and chronograph with vernier scale — the culmination of more than a century of Longines sports timing

Observing the growing popularity of sport and athletic competitions around the middle of the last century, Longines watchmakers of the period quickly set about building timing instruments capable of measuring athletic performances and fairly determining the order of arrival at the finish line. For over a century, Longines would design, build and field generation after generation of increasingly elaborate and ever more accurate mechanical stopwatches and chronographs. This progression came to a head in 1967 with the invention of the vernier scale, patented by the company a year later — an unusually astute and practical way of determining and reading fractions of a second off a timepiece dial. Today the vernier scale is quite deservedly revived on both an historic Longines stopwatch, which for over a generation successfully timed a variety of Olympic and other competitions, and a new Longines wrist chronograph.

An historic stopwatch

The impressive dimensions of its stainless steel case (66.5 mm, over two and a half inches, across) immediately tell you that here is a timepiece designed for professional use. As indeed it was. It is the last Longines mechanical design to have officially timed a sport competition. The year was 1992.

Individually made and assembled in Longines’ workshops, its fast-beat (36,000 v.p.h.) mechanical movement provides a power reserve of 44 hours. Protected by a glass crystal, its silvered dial shows the hours, minutes along with the seconds, at 6 o’clock. All its chronograph functions are controlled by the winder-pushpiece and the pushpiece at 11 o’clock on the case rim. A black stainless steel chronograph hand runs in tandem with an orange-colored flyback hand fitted with a yellow vernier scale attached to its “lead” side to provide elapsed times to the exact second and fraction of a second. The dial also features a 30-minute totalizer with fluorescent orange hand positioned just under “12” on the dial.

This accomplished timing instrument embodies a full measure of the expertise accumulated by generations of talented Longines watchmakers. Since 1879, they have provided the world of sports with countless examples of their inventiveness and skill. Today, the renewed availability of this exceptional instrument as part of a special limited edition provides watch enthusiasts with a rare opportunity to acquire a truly historic timepiece that is part and parcel of the adventure of competition sport in our time: it is the last Longines mechanical stopwatch featuring a flyback hand to have officially timed major international events.

A stylish and practical wrist chronograph

The Longines chronograph that serves as the stopwatch’s limited-edition companion piece has been quite deliberately styled like its celebrated predecessor. Under a cambered mineral crystal, it too features a black and silvered dial and the same bright colors for the chronograph hand with vernier scale and 30-minute totalizer hand. Water-resistant to 30 meters (about 100 feet), its stainless steel case comes with a black leather strap and a transparent back through which to observe a fast-beat (28,800 v.p.h.) movement providing 44 hours’ power reserve.

In addition to a subdial for the seconds at 9 o’clock, it features a day and date calendar. What’s more, its chronograph mechanism includes a 12-hour totalizer at 6 o’clock on the dial along with a 30-minute totalizer

A distinguished duo

A stopwatch that once wrote sports timekeeping history plus a chronograph that provides an impressive demonstration of horological miniaturization come together in an exclusive limited edition restricted to 600 sets in all. Called “honour and glory” and sold in a specially designed presentation case, this distinguished duo is sure to appeal first and foremost to sports buffs with fond memories of the heyday of mechanical sports timing and to connoisseurs of mechanical horology at its finest.