Longines serial number checker, year by year to 1969
Enter the serial from the movement plate, not the number on the outside of the case.
This checker does not tell you whether your Longines is genuine. A serial number can be copied onto a fake as easily as it appears on a real one, and only a professional authentication can settle that. Have your Longines authenticated by an expert
What a Longines serial number actually tells you
A Longines serial number gives a production year from 1867 to 1969, and unusually for a watch brand the published record lists every year from 1919 onward individually, so the answer is usually a single year rather than a window. The serial is on the movement plate, not the caseback, on everything before about 1990. The record's last entry is 15,000,000, the start of 1969, and above that number it simply stops: from roughly 1970 the numbering left the sequential system and modern serials commonly begin 50, which no published chart dates. Every date here is approximate and reconstructed by collectors, not published by Longines.
It places the movement in a year, usually within six to twelve months. It is not proof of authenticity. What makes Longines different from every other brand on this site is that you do not have to settle for approximate: Longines runs a free Extract from the Archives service that returns the exact invoice date, the calibre and the original distributor. Use this page to get oriented, then write to them.
Longines serial numbers era by era
| Era | What the marking looks like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1867 to 1969, one sequential run | Digits only, up to eight of them | 9521000 → 1955 |
| Above 15,000,000, where the published record stops | Anything above 15,000,000, and modern serials commonly begin 50 | 50123456 |
Compiled from professional authentication reference material and reviewed in-house.
Longines serial number chart decade by decade
| Serial range | Year |
|---|---|
| 1860s | |
| 1 to 19,999 | 1867 to 1869 |
| 1870s | |
| 20,000 to 99,999 | 1870 to 1874 |
| 100,000 to 249,999 | 1875 to 1881 |
| 1880s | |
| 250,000 to 499,999 | 1882 to 1887 |
| 500,000 to 749,999 | 1888 to 1892 |
| 1890s | |
| 750,000 to 999,999 | 1893 to 1898 |
| 1,000,000 to 1,249,999 | 1899 to 1900 |
| 1900s | |
| 1,250,000 to 1,499,999 | 1901 to 1903 |
| 1,500,000 to 1,749,999 | 1904 |
| 1,750,000 to 1,999,999 | 1905 to 1906 |
| 2,000,000 to 2,249,999 | 1907 to 1908 |
| 2,250,000 to 2,499,999 | 1909 to 1910 |
| 1910s | |
| 2,500,000 to 2,749,999 | 1911 |
| 2,750,000 to 2,999,999 | 1912 |
| 3,000,000 to 3,249,999 | 1913 to 1914 |
| 3,250,000 to 3,499,999 | 1915 to 1916 |
| 3,500,000 to 3,749,999 | 1917 to 1918 |
| 3,750,000 to 3,814,999 | 1919 |
| 1920s | |
| 3,815,000 to 3,879,999 | 1920 |
| 3,880,000 to 3,944,999 | 1921 |
| 3,945,000 to 4,046,999 | 1922 |
| 4,047,000 to 4,147,999 | 1923 |
| 4,148,000 to 4,249,999 | 1924 |
| 4,250,000 to 4,499,999 | 1925 |
| 4,500,000 to 4,624,999 | 1926 |
| 4,625,000 to 4,749,999 | 1927 |
| 4,750,000 to 4,885,999 | 1928 |
| 4,886,000 to 4,958,999 | 1929 |
| 1930s | |
| 4,959,000 to 5,030,999 | 1930 |
| 5,031,000 to 5,104,499 | 1931 |
| 5,104,500 to 5,176,999 | 1932 |
| 5,177,000 to 5,249,999 | 1933 |
| 5,250,000 to 5,332,999 | 1934 |
| 5,333,000 to 5,415,999 | 1935 |
| 5,416,000 to 5,499,999 | 1936 |
| 5,500,000 to 5,749,999 | 1937 |
| 5,750,000 to 5,849,999 | 1938 |
| 5,850,000 to 5,949,999 | 1939 |
| 1940s | |
| 5,950,000 to 6,139,999 | 1940 |
| 6,140,000 to 6,331,999 | 1941 |
| 6,332,000 to 6,522,999 | 1942 |
| 6,523,000 to 6,713,999 | 1943 |
| 6,714,000 to 6,904,999 | 1944 |
| 6,905,000 to 7,106,999 | 1945 |
| 7,107,000 to 7,308,999 | 1946 |
| 7,309,000 to 7,510,999 | 1947 |
| 7,511,000 to 7,712,999 | 1948 |
| 7,713,000 to 7,914,999 | 1949 |
| 1950s | |
| 7,915,000 to 8,224,999 | 1950 |
| 8,225,000 to 8,534,999 | 1951 |
| 8,535,000 to 8,844,999 | 1952 |
| 8,845,000 to 9,182,999 | 1953 |
| 9,183,000 to 9,520,999 | 1954 |
| 9,521,000 to 9,858,999 | 1955 |
| 9,859,000 to 10,200,999 | 1956 |
| 10,201,000 to 10,543,999 | 1957 |
| 10,544,000 to 10,885,999 | 1958 |
| 10,886,000 to 11,211,999 | 1959 |
| 1960s | |
| 11,212,000 to 11,537,999 | 1960 |
| 11,538,000 to 11,863,999 | 1961 |
| 11,864,000 to 12,115,999 | 1962 |
| 12,116,000 to 12,368,961 | 1963 |
| 12,368,962 to 12,620,999 | 1964 |
| 12,621,000 to 12,873,999 | 1965 |
| 12,874,000 to 13,838,999 | 1966 |
| 13,839,000 to 14,833,999 | 1967 |
| 14,834,000 to 14,999,999 | 1968 |
| 15,000,000 to 15,000,000 | 1969 |
Where the published record lists a year on its own, this checker returns that year. Where it jumps several years between entries, the answer is the window those entries bound rather than a guess inside it. The record's last entry is a single number, 15,000,000, marking the start of 1969, and it never says where 1969 ends, so a serial above 15,000,000 gets no year from this chart rather than an invented one.
Finding the serial number on your Longines
If your serial gives you no year
Two likely reasons. If the number is above 15,000,000, begins 50, or is longer than eight digits, it sits past the end of the published record. That record's last entry is 15,000,000, the start of 1969, and it never says where 1969 ends, so a chart that answered you here would be inventing the number. If instead you read the number off the outside of the case, it is probably the case reference rather than the serial, which on a vintage Longines is on the movement plate and needs the caseback opened. In both cases the free Longines archive extract will answer it exactly, which no chart can.
Longines serial number questions
The things people actually ask us about Longines serial numbers, answered by the team that reads them for a living.
Where is the serial number on a Longines?
On the movement plate, typically near the balance wheel or on the main bridge, which means the caseback has to be opened. On watches from about 1990 onward it is engraved on the caseback instead. A number you can read without opening the watch is usually the case reference, not the serial.
Why does the record stop at 1969?
Because that is where the sequential numbering ended. The last figure anyone publishes is 15,000,000, the start of 1969, and there is no published number for the end of that year. From about 1970 Longines serials leave the old run and commonly begin 50, and no table dates them. A chart that carried on past 15,000,000 would be inventing continuity that the numbering itself does not have, so this one stops where the evidence does.
Can Longines tell me the exact date?
Yes, and this is the best thing about the brand. Longines runs a free Extract from the Archives service by email, covering records back to 1867. It returns the exact invoice date, not just the year, plus the calibre and the original distributor. No chart competes with that.
How accurate is the chart answer?
Good to within six to twelve months from 1919 onward, which is tighter than most brands, because the published record lists those years individually rather than every few. Before 1919 it thins out and you get a window instead. It is still approximate: Longines has never published these numbers and they are reconstructed from observed watches and archive extracts.
My serial gives a range of years rather than one. Why?
Because the record is dense but not complete. Where it lists consecutive years, you get a single year. Where it jumps, from 1867 to 1870 for instance, the honest answer is the window those two entries bound rather than a guess inside it.
Is the serial the same as the case or reference number?
No. The reference identifies the model and the case number identifies the case. Only the movement serial is in this table. They are frequently confused, and entering a reference will not return a date.
Does a valid serial mean my Longines is genuine?
No. Serials are engraved on counterfeits, and a number landing in a plausible year is easy to copy. What is hard to fake is agreement between the serial, the calibre, the dial printing and the case, and that is what an expert check looks at.
My watch is from the 1980s. Is there any way to date it?
Not from a public chart, but yes overall. The archive extract covers modern watches too, and the papers, the calibre and the case reference together will place it. The serial alone will not.