Spirit

Presented in 2020, Spirit is one of the most recent lines from Longines, conceived not as a precise reinterpretation of a single archive model, but as an original synthesis of the pioneering spirit that has accompanied the brand since the early decades of the twentieth century. In those years Longines supplied onboard instruments and wristwatches to numerous figures linked to the great aeronautical and exploratory feats of the time: among the best-known names are American aviator Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviator Elinor Smith, entrepreneur and aviator Howard Hughes, and French polar explorer Paul-Émile Victor, all linked in various ways to Longines instrumentation used during their respective feats.

Rather than faithfully reproducing a single historical reference, the Spirit collection translates this imagery into a coherent yet contemporary aesthetic language: strongly luminescent spear-tip hands, applied lozenge-shaped indexes, rounded Arabic numerals recalling period cockpit instrumentation, and a richly decorated "pillbox"-shaped screw-down crown at 3 o'clock. The case, offered in 40 and 42 mm steel diameters, adopts a deliberately sober, instrumental setup, far from the classic elegance of the Master Collection and closer, in spirit, to the pilot's and explorer's watches of the first half of the twentieth century.

From a mechanical standpoint, Spirit is also a showcase for Longines' most recent manufacturing expertise: the three-hand models house the automatic caliber L888.4, fitted with a silicon hairspring and COSC chronometer-certified with a 64-hour power reserve, while the chronograph versions — offered only in the 42 mm diameter, with vintage-inspired "mushroom" pushers — use the column-wheel caliber L688.4, also COSC-certified. The collection has since been expanded with Pilot and Pilot Flyback variants with an even more markedly aeronautical design, confirming Spirit as Longines' reference line for telling, in a modern way, its heritage as timekeeper to the pioneers of the air.