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The Longines Avigation Watch Type A-7 is inspired by a 1935 pilot’s watch

Saint-Imier brand can claim a legitimate link with flying



Longines is presenting a monopusher-chronograph inspired by a watch made for the U.S. Army pilots in 1935.
Image Credit: Supplied

Longines has had much success dipping into its century-plus archive to create retro-styled watches. From its association with aviator Charles Lindbergh to the timepieces it made for pilots in the years leading up to World War II, Longines can claim a legitimate link with flying. The brand from Saint-Imier now presents a monopusher-chronograph inspired by a watch made for the U.S. Army pilots in 1935.

Meet the new Avigation Watch Type A-7 1935. The name “Avigation” is mash-up of aviation and navigation. Early aviators could plot an aircraft’s position by calculating speed, course, time and previous known position – it was a form of navigation known as Dead Reckoning (or Deduced Reckoning) and was first used by mariners to find their way across the oceans.

The name “Avigation” is mash-up of aviation and navigation.
Image Credit: Supplied

The most striking feature of this watch has always been its unorthodox stance – the dial is shifted 40° to the right to allow pilots to read time without having to release the plane's control yoke. The watch uses a 41 mm stainless steel case, the fluted crown has a built-in pusher for the chronograph functions: start, stop, and reset, by simply pressing the single push-piece.

The solid steel caseback is adorned with a suitably aeronautic image of an airplane, its wingspan etched with a Longines logo, surrounded by a radiating sunburst motif. The black dial matt black dial has Arabic numerals in an Art-Deco font and railroad minute markers. The cathedral-type hands and numerals have a Super-LumiNova coating for optimum legibility.

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The classy watch uses a 41 mm stainless steel case.
Image Credit: Supplied

The watch is powered by Caliber L788.2, which is based on the ETA Valgranges A08.L11 movement. It has a column wheel mechanism to drive the chronograph functions, along with a vertical clutch and an oscillating pinion. A self-winding movement, it has a power reserve of 54 hours and a balance frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 vph). We don’t know the price of this timepiece yet, but the previous version with a white lacquer dial was priced at $3,500.

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