Longines have to be listening to suggestions, as a result of they’ve taken design and elevated it towards greatness, in a approach that implies they’re listening.
As they did with their normal three-hand Spirit Pilot watch, for 2025, Omega’s sibling, Longines, launched a way more refined model of its Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph.
Beginning with a brand new ETA-sourced motion (Swatch Group owns ETA, Longines, and Omega, amongst others) that forgoes the automated oscillating weight in favor of a hand-wound chronograph design, Longines was in a position to scale back the whole case thickness by 4 mm, in comparison with its earlier technology Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph.
This discount in thickness is arguably extra necessary than whether or not the watch has an computerized winding system or not. Buying and selling away the flexibility to wind the watch by sporting it’s a tradeoff that many well-informed customers will doubtless settle for.
Winding a watch by hand can truly be appreciated, relying in your use case and preferences. I personally don’t thoughts it, particularly with a chronograph, the place there’s a lot occurring that I want it to be hand-wound.
With a dive watch, I are likely to want an computerized. And whereas one of the crucial coveted and collectible chronographs on planet Earth, the Rolex Daytona, is an computerized. A counterpoint is that one of many different most collectible chronographs from right here to the moon, the Omega Speedmaster Skilled Moonwatch, is a manually wound chronograph.
With an influence reserve of 68 hours, that’s 18-20 hours longer than the venerable Speedmaster Skilled (relying on which mannequin), so even when you need to wind it, you are able to do so much less typically.
Longines reportedly has a devoted part at ETA to fabricate the actions, which isn’t essentially as revered as having a devoted in-house manufacture, nevertheless, they’re producing at a really excessive quantity which will make this the one viable possibility at present.
Based mostly on Morgan Stanley’s newest rating report, Longines ranked quantity 7 amongst Swiss watchmakers by gross sales income in 2024, which is big. That places them properly inside the scale wanted to function their very own manufacturing facility; nevertheless, the Swatch Group should have a cause for maintaining their motion manufacturing at ETA. Whether or not that’s as a result of ETA remains to be essentially the most cost-effective possibility, or as a result of they wish to prohibit in-house manufacturing to Omega and above (Breuget, Blancpain), to keep up exclusivity, or each, or another cause altogether, is unclear.
This watch is a contemporary COSC-certified chronometer that beats at 4Hz, has a silicon stability spring (which lengthens service intervals and reduces adverse magnetism). Every chronometer motion is individually regulated to a charge of -4/+6 or higher and examined by COSC earlier than being cased up, guaranteeing that you simply’re shopping for a timepiece that delivers exact timekeeping.
That is removed from an unique motion; nevertheless, not all chronographs function a column-wheel actuation mechanism (this one operates with a horizontal clutch), and few supply flyback performance. A flyback means that you can begin and cease the watch with the standard pusher at 2 o’clock; nevertheless, not like with a typical chronograph, the place the 4 o’clock pusher solely resets the chronograph, if the chronograph is operating, and also you hit the reset button, it truly stops, resets, and restarts all of sudden. And if the chronograph is stopped, and also you hit the reset button, it merely resets.
Longines adorned caliber L792.4 with perlage on the mainplate, in addition to blued screws, a blued column wheel, and stripes on the higher bridge, which elevates it in comparison with industrial actions with little to no ending. And there’s a screw-in sapphire crystal caseback to view all the main points.
As for the dial, Longines eliminated the 5-stars seen on earlier Spirit Pilot fashions, in favor of a cleaner, matt black dial, with simply the Longines brand in gilt print at 12 o’clock, with the winged hourglass emblem utilized beneath it.
Longines additionally removed the third register at 6 o’clock, which, though helpful, cluttered the dial in comparison with the brand new two-register look.
Longines stored the lengthy index-shaped hour and minute palms, and the identical lengthy, skinny, triangular-tipped chronograph seconds hand; nevertheless, they eliminated the purple varnish from the tip, and the purple from the pad printed “FLYBACK” designation at 6 o’clock. The pyramid-shaped 30-minute chronograph hand, within the subdial at 3 o’clock, and the baton-shaped small operating seconds hand at 9’clock, stay the identical.
All the pieces from the utilized Arabic indices, to the palms, to the minute/second scale, to the logos, and font, is gilded. This provides a classic look, and future fashions might supply a non-gilded possibility, though this seems to be enticing as is.
Surrounding the dial is a chrome steel bi-directional rotating bezel, with a shiny black ceramic insert, that the majority notably, now has an applicable for a pilot watch, countdown bezel, in comparison with a count-up (dive-style) bezel on prior fashions.
Final however not least, because of the brand new motion, Longines was in a position to supply this newest technology of Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph, in a 316L chrome steel case that measures a proportionally ultimate 39.5 mm x 13.4 mm (in comparison with 42 mm x 17 mm earlier than). The lug-to-lug is 47.4 mm, and the lug width is 20 mm. Longines tastefully added polished to the case flank bevels, to the crown, to the pushers, to the higher rim of the bezel, and in between the middle hyperlinks (on the bracelet model), with every part else receiving brushed surfaces.
The Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph is 100 meters waterproof and weighs 155 grams with the chrome steel bracelet, which includes a 3-position micro-adjustable clasp, however no quick-release spring bars (Ref. L3.721.4.53.6) and retails for $5,550. For $5,350, you get a brown leather-based strap with a 3-position micro-adjustable chrome steel clasp and quick-release spring bars.
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Photographs by Longines.
