The Longines Evidenza watch will appeal to those who want a rectangular shaped watch that is a little different, though of classic design and elegance. Its design makes it an ideal dress watch for both ladies and gentlemen and is certainly one of the more distinctive collections of Longines watches.

Longines make fine watches with both quartz and mechanical movements. What the company also does is make the collection quite broad in terms of functionality, styling and price. So, no matter which collection you prefer, you can find a watch with the looks you like and within your budget. The same applies to the current Evidenza collection.

The company's blurb tries to evoke something of the 1920s when talking about the Evidenza collection. It's true that this collection does have a certain historic or timeless look to it, but the watch could just easily evoke the 30s or 50s or even today.

The unifying theme of the collection is the tonneau shape of the casing. Tonneau comes from the French for 'cask' which does perfectly describe the shape of the watch case; it has a flat bottom and top part to the bezel with the sides being slightly curved, as though you were seeing a wine barrel from side on. Another prevalent feature is the 'Flinque' dial. Again, this French word denotes a pattern formed of close, concentric circles. Not all have this very elegant finish to the dial, but most do.

Most of the Evidenza ladies watches are 26.00 x 30.60 mm with a smaller version that is 19.60 x 23.30 mm. Most come with a quartz movement though one or two models come with selfwinding mechanical movements beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour - the power reserve is 42 hours. There is also a ladies chronograph version with a L652 self-winding mechanical movement and 40 hour power reserve. As you would expect of a mechanical chronograph the casing is the largest in the ladies collection, measuring 30.50 x 35.60 mm. There is a large choice of finishes to the dial, ranging from Roman or Arabic numerals and diamonds or plain. In my opinion the nicest watches of the ladies versions are those that come with a date aperture at the 6 o'clock and with a black dial. The most beautiful in the collection for me is model number L2.155.0.57.2 featuring a stainless steel casing, black lacquered dial with fine steel hands and diamond-set Arabic numerals, and a simple, understated black leather strap.

Of the men's watches the most appealing has to be the mechanical chronograph versions. Like most of the Longines watches it has a flinqued dial with a seconds subdial at 3 o'clock, a totalizer to 12h counter of a second at 6 o'clock and a 30-minute totalizer at 9 o'clock. What's a very nice detail is that a date aperture overlaps the 12h counter subdial at the 6 o'clock. I haven't seen all the models available but of those I have, my favorite is model L2.643.6.73.9 with a casing in yellow gold. There is also a rose gold version, which I would love to see in person.

The Evidenza watches by Longines are very stylish, dress watches that have a timeless elegance to them. Unlike some watches with more contemporary styling, you won't have to worry about these looking dated in 10 years or so.