Longines Goes All-Out to Time the Kentucky Derby and Unveils a new Sure-Bet Conquest Classic Moonphase Watch

“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” is back, and Longines, the official timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby, and the Longines countdown is well underway with all eyes on Churchill Downs this Saturday, May 2nd. In typical Longines style, the brand will be recording every second of the exciting action – from starting gates to the final finish. In fact, the brand has gone all out — bringing free-standing clocks to the race track in strategic positions so that fans never need to guess the time. They still need to figure the odds and the winning horse that will gallup into the finish line first, but the Longines timing is a sure bet.

Additionally, to celebrate this year’s Kentucky Derby, Longines has released a new winning timepiece. Offered in two versions, the new Conquest Classic Moonphase watch captures the sophisticated elements (chronograph for timing, day and date indication) that surround events such as the “Run for the Roses.” One of refined pieces will be awarded to the event’s winning jockey, horse owner, and trainer, and both new Conquest models will be added to the Conquest Classic collection, a line dedicated to equestrian aficionados who refuse to compromise on elegance in watches.

Reflecting the brand’s passion and longstanding equestrian tradition the Conquest Classic Moonphase is powered by the in-house mechanical self-winding caliber L678 with 25 jewels and  a 48-hour power reserve.  Its fully functioning chronograph boasts a central seconds sweeper along with 30 minute totalizer subdial at 12 o’clock in addition to a 12 hour totalizer resting at 6 o’clock (wherein the moon phase indication also sits). The third subdial, set at 9 o’clock, contains both the small seconds counter and the 24 hour indicator. The hands and hour indicators are all coated with Super-LumiNova®

The day and month windows are nestled within the subdial at 12 o’clock, while the date is indicated by an extended central-hand capped by a crescent moon tip that aligns with the date numbers around the outer dial.

The case comes in two models, a stainless steel and a two-toned steel and 18-karat rose gold.  The steel version will be handed to the winning jockey of Kentucky Derby, while the two-toned model will go to the owner of the winning thoroughbred.  The watch sports a sapphire crystal coated with multiple layers of anti-reflective treatment. Each watch is offered with a matching steel or two-toned rose gold/steel brushed-and-polished link bracelet, or with an alligator leather strap. The stainless steel version is priced at $3,900, while the two-toned 18K rose gold and steel version will be sold at $5,750.

 

Longines, the official timer of the Kentucky Derby for years, recently announced its new Positioning System technology that has been and will be installed in several key races during this spring’s global equestrian line up. The new Longines Positioning System (LPS) is a “game-changing” development for timekeeping and tracking technology in horse racing. Essentially, the LPS offers more up-to=the-moment tracking of data and can be utilized in a number of ways. The key is to accurately and repeatedly be able to track real-time performance data on the exact position of horses during a race, race rankings and distance between horses and speed. It is accurate to 5 cm thanks to its 1,000 measurement increments per second.

Longines’ illustrious history in the world of equestrian dates back to 1878, when the brand produced a chronograph engraved with a jockey and his mount — which was used on racetracks as early as 1881 by jockeys. Today, the brand supports show-jumping evens, flat racing and is the Official Partner and Official Watch of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA).