LONGINES SPIRIT PILOT AND SPIRIT PILOT FLYBACK
Where pioneering spirit meets modern precision
Drawing on nearly a century of aviation heritage, Longines expands its Spirit pillar with the new Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback designs for 2025. These models remain faithful to the original Spirit collection’s distinctive aesthetics while strengthening Longines’ position in the pilot watch category through design authenticity and sophisticated tool-watch functionality. The new watches blend traditional aeronautical features with cutting-edge horological innovation, embodying the pioneering spirit that has driven extraordinary men and women to push boundaries since the brand’s earliest involvement in aviation.
Longines has a long history of accompanying some of the world’s greatest explorers in their conquest of the skies. From historic transatlantic flights to polar expeditions across frozen landscapes, the Swiss watchmaker has created precision instruments that perform flawlessly under the most demanding conditions. Today, the brand breathes new life into this fascinating heritage through its Spirit product line, launched in 2020 to honour the fearless aviators and adventurers who have trusted their lives to Longines timepieces.
The expanded Spirit collection for 2025 introduces the new Spirit Pilot iterations, representing a thoughtful evolution of the collection's established designs. The Spirit Pilot advances the three-hand model with refined updates, while the Spirit Pilot Flyback brings enhanced sophistication to the chronograph variant. Both models combine traditional characteristics with state-of-the-art horological technologies in a fusion of elegance and functionality.
Longines Spirit Pilot
Five years after its launch, the Spirit line welcomes a streamlined three-hand model that remains faithful to the collection’s aeronautical roots. The Longines Spirit Pilot features a redesigned stainless steel 39 mm case with improved ergonomics and a refined aesthetic that enhances both comfort and visual appeal. The clean matt black dial eschews distraction in favour of pure functionality. The five stars and date indication from the original Spirit three-hand model have been removed, while the minute track has been refined for enhanced clarity. Gold-coloured hands and applied Arabic numerals create striking contrast for optimal readability in all conditions and lend the watch its vintage allure.
This pilot watch is powered by the exclusive Longines calibre L888.4, featuring a silicon balance spring and innovative components that provide magnetic resistance 10 times greater than the ISO 764 standard. The self-winding mechanical movement delivers exceptional precision with a 72-hour power reserve and carries official chronometer certification from the COSC, for reliability worthy of professional aviators. It is also protected by a new screw-down case back, representing a significant change in construction.
The Spirit Pilot offers versatile wearing options, with a choice between a stainless steel bracelet featuring a folding clasp or interchangeable straps in either brown leather with a folding clasp or new textile-style green rubber with a pin buckle. Both the bracelet and leather strap are micro-adjustable, and all are designed to complement the modern pilot’s lifestyle, whether in the cockpit or on the ground.
Longines Spirit Pilot Flyback
At the heart of the Spirit collection stands the Longines Spirit Pilot Flyback, a testament to the brand’s pioneering role in flyback chronograph development. This sophisticated timepiece celebrates a technology Longines invented in the early 1930s, when the brand produced the first flyback chronograph watches before filing its groundbreaking patent in 1935.
The new Spirit Pilot Flyback presents reimagined dimensions within a refined 39.5-mm stainless steel case, measuring just 13.4 mm thick for a sleeker, more comfortable profile. The bidirectional rotating bezel benefits from an improved rotating system and introduces a countdown timer for the first time, while the box-shaped sapphire crystal and matt black dial create the distinctive aesthetic of vintage aviation instruments. Gold-coloured hands and applied numerals treated with Super-LumiNova® ensure exceptional visibility, while honouring the functional requirements that made pilot watches essential cockpit tools.
Powering this exceptional chronograph is the exclusive hand-wound Longines calibre L792.4, visible through the transparent screw-down case back. The silicon balance spring and innovative components provide superior magnetic resistance, while the column-wheel chronograph mechanism with flyback function delivers the precision timing capabilities that define professional aviation instruments. With 68 hours of power reserve and COSC chronometer certification, this movement represents the pinnacle of mechanical watchmaking excellence.
Available with either a stainless steel bracelet or interchangeable brown leather strap, both featuring micro-adjustable folding clasps, the Spirit Pilot Flyback combines historical significance with contemporary performance.
Longines' pioneering spirit lives on
The expanded Spirit Pilot collection continues Longines’ proud tradition of creating timepieces for those who dare to explore new frontiers. These authentic pilot watches demonstrate that when technical excellence meets genuine passion for adventure, the result transcends mere timekeeping to become an instrument of human achievement.
As new generations of pioneers emerge, they will find in the Spirit Pilot collection the same commitment to elegance, tradition, and performance that has guided Longines for nearly two centuries.
The flyback functionA watchmaking complication invented by Longines in the 1930s, the flyback function enables a chronograph to measure consecutive intervals of time quickly and easily. Unlike a traditional chronograph, where the seconds hand has to be stopped, reset, and restarted, the flyback function enables the hand to return instantly to zero and start measuring time again with a single press of the pusher. This function proves particularly useful in situations where precision and speed are essential, such as in aviation. |
About Longines' movements
Backed by centuries of watchmaking expertise, Longines has played a pioneering role in numerous technical advances and continues to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to innovation. The brand’s constant pursuit of excellence has led it to equip all its automatic timepieces with cutting-edge movements featuring a silicon balance spring. This material is not only lightweight and corrosion-resistant, but also resistant to usual temperature variations and magnetic fields. Its unique properties improve a watch’s precision and longevity, allowing Longines to back these models with a five-year guarantee.
About Longines
Longines has been based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, since 1832. The watchmaking house boasts expertise forged in tradition, elegance, and high performance. With its long-standing experience as official timekeeper of world sports championships and partner of international sports federations, the Swiss watch brand has forged strong and lasting links with the sporting world over the years. Renowned for the elegance of its models, Longines is a member of Swatch Group Ltd, the world’s leading manufacturer of timepieces. The brand with the winged hourglass as its emblem has outlets in over 150 countries.
