Longines 1952 Winter Army Championships Reference 5356 Unpolished w/ Extract & Box
This Longines reference 5356 is an incredibly special timepiece not only because of the outstanding condition of the watch, but also the story behind it. The watch is one of 2 reference 5356s that were awarded in The 1952 Winter Army Championship in Andermatt. The case is engraved with “Internationaler Militar-Skipatrouillenlauf 1952 Andermatt (Schweiz) 1. Rang” - “International Military Ski Patrol Run. 1st Place.” The watch was left unworn for many years - and the sibling model was the original owner/reciepients watch he wore frequently. The dial on the 2nd example shows signs of humidity and wear to the case and was likely worn while skiing over the years.
Researching the provenance engraved onto the timepieces found the story of Melker Risberg (also spelled Melcher). Born February 16, 1930, Risberg was a celebrated Swedish cross country skier who competed throughout Europe. He was recognized in several articles for his 2nd place in the International Singles Ski Race during the 1952 Die grossartigen Winter-Armeemeisterschaften in Andermatt (The great winter army championships in Andermatt). He would cover the 18-kilometer distance in a ranked time of 1:19:19 just behind his Swedish teammate Adolf Wiklund by merely 32 seconds. For the 1st place timepiece - research highlights it was earned alongside his Swedish teammates in the 28km patrol run. Among Sweeden Team I’s participants were Sundberg, Adolf Wiklund, [Melker] Risberg, and Sdt. Jonsson.
Longines would be recognized within the March 3rd issue of Der Bund’s sports section highlighting the satisfaction with Olympic organizers of the timekeeping instruments. Several other sporting events, including the Winter Army Championships in Andermatt, were mentioned alongside the prestigious competition.
The case measures 35mm in diameter. It is unpolished and in phenomenal condition. The dial is pristine. The reference 5356 is powered by the calibre 12.68Z, a manual wind movement with sub-seconds. The 12 ligne movement operates at 18,000 VPH and is comprised of 17 jewels. The watch is paired on a contemporary beads or rice bracelet made by Private Eyes.
The watch comes with Extract from the Archives citing [The watch is] “fitted with a Longines manually wound mechanical movement, caliber 12.68Z. It was invoiced on 26 February 1952 to the company Wirth, which was at that time our agent for Switzerland.”
We do not know the service history, but the watch is running well. It does not come with papers. It does come with an incredibly rare blue Longines presentation box featuring a midnight flight into a cloud-shaped winged-hourglass. These boxes are insanely rare and some of the coolest boxes of the era!
PRICE: $15,000 (Item SBUXYT0406)
