DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
Imagine you had travelled back in time to 90 years ago; it is the year 1927, where the technology of GPS is non-existent. You had just set a double record for the first solo and longest nonstop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. After the 33 hours and 30 mins of flight time, back on ground, you realized you completed your feat without the use of an accurate watch, and that you have your lucky stars to thank for surviving this death-defying act.
After his charmed journey as described above, the young American pilot Charles Lindbergh who flew the “Spirit of St. Louis” reached out to Longines, who was the official timekeeper for the World Air Sports Federation at that time, to develop a wristwatch to meet the fundamental needs of an aviator. The watch was to be able to accurately and quickly determine the longitude of the aircraft during long distance flights. The result was the Lindbergh Hour Angle that birthed in the year 1931, first introduced as an aeronautical innovation so that pilots can determine the longitude of their long-distance flights and find their geographical position with ease.
The Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch – 90th Anniversary
The Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch – 90th Anniversary
This year, Longines celebrates the 90th anniversary of the above-mentioned transatlantic flight flown by Charles Lindbergh. During Baselworld 2017, the brand announced that there will be only 90 numbered timepieces made available for sale for this special edition of the Hour Angle watch.
Presented in a titanium case and black PVD bezel this year, the 90th anniversary piece stays however largely similar to the non-limited edition version.
The main function of the watch remains unchanged; by using a sextant to determine latitude and solar time at the present location, and with a nautical almanac on hand as a guide to “offset” the equation of time, the pilot can use the hands, bezel and inner rotating centre dial to calculate the hour angle difference, which corresponds to their current longitude.
The regular edition of the Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle.
The case, dial and hands
As the case is considerably large at 47.5mm, the titanium material on this limited edition piece allows the weight of the case rather light on the wrist, which proves to be a huge improvement point to the watch.
The bezel is updated to a modern PVD one, which looks less busy, compared to the original version. Legibility of all components on the watch was of utmost importance for the pilot in the 30s, but the function of the Hour Angle watch today is almost superfluous and it remains mainly as a yearning piece of history not to be forgotten. As a result, the 90th Anniversary edition is easier to the eye, but is less legible as an instrument.
Reintroduced in modern cues, the bezel for this limited edition piece comes in black PVD.
The numerals on the circular-brushed silver main dial read up from 15 to 180 degrees, showing an increase of “15” at every hour interval. This is […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Chelsey Chen
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