Bigger is not always better, as the Longines Mini watch attempts to illustrate. Although Swiss watchmakers have been beefing up their watches since 2001 or so, timepieces still need to be elegant and full of grace and there is still plenty of room for watches like this. At just 16mm in diameter, the Longines Mini is the Swiss manufacture’s smallest watch in the current range. Take a long look and see if small is indeed beautiful, as Longines proposes here. Now it is hard to tell from the pictures because they don’t offer context but the watch is smaller than the caps of some fountain pens and plenty of lipsticks. So yes, this is a real tiny dancer!

There are four possibilities with the Longines Mini and all are in steel, with 42 diamonds set on the bezel. Actually, that is a little misleading because it is one watch that comes with four strap options. Nothing spectacular so far you might think but that is because Longines cares about the details here and if you are the sort of person who finds the Mini irresistible you already understand. Obviously, the luminous colors of the straps ranging from vivid red and soft lavender to trendy beige and chic black are key to the appeal of the watch. Those terms are actually what Longines officially calls these colors, once again calling to mind shades of lipstick.

Whatever your tastes might be, we think these colors will make for a nice contrast with the blued steel hour and minute hands, along with the mother-of-pearl dial. The colors will make it easier to match the watch with your wardrobe and mood, which unless you go with black all the time is important.

On the technical front, the Longines Mini is powered by a quartz movement, calibre L298.2, which is how Longines manages to maintain such a dainty size. Despite the size, the clean dial and baton hands allow one to easily read off the time while the case retains a certain degree of strength, being water resistant to 30 meters.

Specs

• Dimensions: 16mm
• Functions: Hours, minutes
• Movement: Quartz calibre L298.2
• Material: Steel, with 42 Top Wesselton VVS diamonds (0.1 carats)
• Water Resistance: 30 meters
• Strap: Leather with buckle, four colors

For another perspective on the Longines Mini, visit L’Officiel Singapore.