ADAM'S Fine Watches 3rd December 2025

56 LONGINES REF. 5161, SOMMATORE CHRONOGRAPH, STAINLESS STEEL An extremely rare and incredibly well preserved stainless steel manual-wind “Sommatore” flyback chronograph wristwatch with central minute recorder, circa 1946. Year: 1946 (delivered to Longines’ agent Weil in Chile, according to Extract from the Archives) Dial: Silvered dial with outer tachymeter and minute scales, Arabic numerals, blued central chronograph seconds hand and polished steel cen- tral chronograph minutes hand (Sommatore), subsidiary seconds at 9 o’clock and 12-hour counter at 3 o’clock; signed LONGINES. Calibre: Manual-wind Longines calibre 13ZN-12, flyback chronograph with central minute recorder (“double flyback” seconds & minutes), 18 jewels, signed. Case: Stainless steel round case, snap-on back, inner caseback stamped EFCo Longines with reference 5161 and order number 23021. Diameter: 39.5 mm Bracelet/Strap: Black leather strap with original Longines pin buckle. Accessories: Longines Extract from the Archives confirming invoicing to Weil (Chile) in 1946; Longines Certificate of Authenticity (2025); Lon- gines international service warranty (full overhaul April 2025, valid until June 2027). Signature: Dial, movement and case. € 40,000 - 80,000 The Longines reference 5161, better known under its Italian nickname Sommatore or Doppia Lancetta, is one of the most exceptional chronographs ever produced by the Saint-Imier manufacturer. Introduced in the mid-1940s, it is powered by the legendary calibre 13ZN-12, widely regarded as one of the finest chronograph movements of the 20th century. Patented by Longines in 1936, the 13ZN was the very first wristwatch chronograph calibre to feature the flyback function. The 13ZN-12 variant elevated this innovation even further with its central minute recorder: a second chronograph hand, in polished steel, advancing centrally in perfect synchrony with the blued chronograph sec- onds hand. This ingenious architecture, four central hands combined with traditional subdials for running seconds and the 12-hour totaliser, remains unique in the history of watchmaking. The present watch, delivered in 1946 to the Longines agent Weil in Chile, is cased in a beautifully proportioned 39.5 mm stainless steel case. According to scholarship, production of the 13ZN-12 Sommatore ran only from 1945 to 1947, with an estimated 250 examples in steel. Today, surviving specimens are vanishingly rare, and those pre- served in such outstanding condition, complete with factory service and Certificate of Authenticity (2025), are almost never encountered. The Sommatore holds a place of honour among vintage chronographs: a technical tour de force, the very first flyback wrist chronograph with a central minute recorder, and a design whose purity and balance have earned the admiration of collectors worldwide. For the connoisseur of Longines’ golden age, this watch represents nothing less than a grail, an icon of innovation, rarity, and beauty.