Longines Pearlescent Mystery Dial - The Hour That Floats - Singer Dial - Circa 1959

In the fall of 1957 the first satellite went up, and Americans walked outside at dusk to watch for it. The newspapers printed the minute it would cross each city's sky. At that minute a small bright light rose in the west and moved steadily across the dark sky, nothing carrying it, nothing holding it up, exactly on time.

In those same years Longines sold a watch that raised the same question. A small faceted gold arrow lies out on the open pearlescent face of the dial, held by nothing the eye can find, and it keeps the hour. The mystery dial began as a marketing gimmick, Longines built it only briefly, and collectors hunt the survivors now. The secret is plain once told: the center of the dial is a disc that turns with the hours, and the arrow rides it, the disc's edge showing only as a fine circle drawn across the face.

Nearly all mystery dials left the factory in plain satin silver. This one carries the dress version, cut by Singer, whose maker's stamp repeats around the dial's concealed rim and shows in the photographs. The face is pearlescent, worked in a spiral of hundreds of fine lines circling out from the center, and light rolls around it as the wrist turns, so the disc's slow creep disappears into the swirl. Applied gold batons cut with flutes stand at the hours, the largest at twelve and six, with Longines arched at the top of the fixed ring and Automatic at its foot. The single true hand, for the minutes, is gold and slender.

Under the disc runs the caliber 19A, Longines' own self-winding movement, seventeen jewels, designed and finished in the company's works.

The case is 10k gold filled, stamped inside by the Longines-Wittnauer Watch Co. of New York, the partnership that sold Longines in America, with Geneva and Montreal named beneath it. The case is slim and round with faceted lugs and a fluted crown, and the crystal is domed acrylic. A few tiny dark specks sit in the dial's texture, and the photographs show them. Fine scratches cross the back from wear, and light marks touch the bezel and lugs. It comes on a dark brown textured leather strap showing wear along its edges. The watch runs, and its service history is unknown.

This watch is outfitted with a Kreisler strap and has a stamped Kreisler buckle.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.