One of the highlights of this year’s novelties from Longines is the Spirit collection, honouring famous pioneers or the air, land and sea who relied on their Longines, such as Amelia Earhart, Paul-Emile Victor, Elinor Smith and Howard Hughes, who through their exploits contributed to the legendary reputation of the winged hourglass brand from Saint-Imier.

As with many other Longines collections, the aesthetics are deeply anchored in the history of pilot watches. Big oversized crown, the flange, the pronounced step around the crystal, the font of the dial, the diamond shape indexes and the large, luminous “baton” hands are all elements drawn from the days of pioneering aviation.

The three-hand and date models come in two versions 40 mm and 42 mm powered by a COSC-certified L888.4 with silicon balance spring and a whopping 64 hours of power reserve.

The chronograph has a very wearable diameter of 42 mm and it is powered by the L688.4 column-wheel chronograph (COSC) with 60 hours of reserve.

When it comes to the dial colours, you can choose between matt black, grained silver and sunray blue all featuring five stars, a sign of improvement of the quality and the reliability of the movement. Five is the maximum number that can be achieved.

We hope to bring you a full hands-on review of a Longines Spirit in a month or two. It will be an interesting watch to have a closer look at. In the meantime, keep your eyes on WatchPaper and longines.com