longines avigation oversize crown

16 I South Africa Deluxe I Shopping & Lifestyle
wa tc h es I 17
Longines Avigation
Oversize Crown
Longines Avigation Oversize Crown stirs up the drama and excitement of early aviation when magnificent men in their flying machines
made history. Avigation, a portmanteau word from aviation and navigation, sums up the association of Longines with flying from its
infancy. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh made his first solo, non-stop crossing of the North Atlantic with a flight time measured as 33 hours
and 30 minutes. The watch that witnessed this splendid moment of human achievement was a Longines. Many of the features of the
old watches of the brand were introduced at the suggestion of Lindberg because one of the directors of the company was a great fan
of the famous aviator. The aviation tradition of the company, started in the early years of flying, continues even today. Women came to
the forefront of aviation in the middle of the 20th century and when Amelia Earhart, the
first woman to fly solo across Atlantic, embarked on her mission, she wore a Longines.
The winged hourglass Longines logo, registered in 1880, is the oldest registered logo for
a watchmaker and was truly futuristic, as flying was only fiction then. In the tantalising
world of high-end horology the logo is indeed the most celebrated, the ultimate symbol
of quality, precision and luxury. In its features, the Longines Avigation Oversize Crown
is the affirmation of the Longines’ communication slogan: Elegance is an attitude. It is
an archaic looking new collection, merging in style with the ethos of our times, when
people love to adorn themselves in retrograde, oversized watches.
Drawing its inspiration from a model of Longines produced in the 1920s, all three
models of the Avigation Oversize Crown feature exaggerated oversize, both in the case
and crown. The crown has an unusually long stem; a disproportionate extension for the
size of the onion crown. A flaw in design? No, an intentionally made anomaly for the
easy winding of the crown and adjusting of the bezel for the pilot who, in the early days
of aviation, had to be protected from cold wind lashing against him by wearing thick
Photo: © Longines South Africa
Stirring up the Aviation Excitement
1 8 I South Africa Deluxe I Shopping & Lifestyle
Brillian ce
mee ts
gloves. Certainly this ergonomic design feature, irrelevant today, will trigger a lot of talk
at the dinner table.
In Longines Avigation Oversize Crown the design features are determined by function
rather than the principles of aesthetics. Visibility in all kinds of light conditions is critical
in flying, so the hands and the numerals receive a lot of attention in design. The goldplated hands, with luminescent material on them, and the baroque Arabic numerals in
the background of the black dial, enhance visibility in different light conditions.
The Avigation Oversize Crown presents three models, showing an eagerness to please
different tastes. The base model features three hands. The self-winding mechanical
movement shows the hours and minutes by the large and small hands. The seconds
are shown on a sub-dial, along with the date at the 6 o’clock hour marker. In the
second model, a GMT complication shows the time of a different zone on a 24-hour
scale, with the help of an additional arrowhead hand on the main dial itself. The third
version, equipped with mono-pusher chronograph movement, displays, through the
two sub-dials, the running seconds and the thirty minutes chronograph function that
are placed at the 9 and 3 time markers.
Are all the users of the Longines aviation watches pilots? Certainly not. Then what is
the buzz about the brand? A watch is grand for the great events it witnessed. Founded
by Auguste Agazzi at Saint-Imier in Switzerland in 1832, the company has a checkered history of over one hundred and eighty years.
Aviation is not the only forte of the brand; it is the watch of the lover of the outdoors. When the modern day Olympics was held in
1892, Longines supplied the hardware for measuring time. Subsequently it has kept time for fourteen Olympics. Though the brand
has a sports flavour about it, it is not lacking in the stylistic aspect of design. In 1960, Longines produced the thinnest possible watch
design, an unbelievably thin electromagnetic watch with a thickness of only 0,98mm.
Is Longines the name of a person? Some may ask: What is in a name? echoing Romeo in Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy, Romeo and
Juliet. There is certainly something in the brand names of high-end watches. Many great watches like the Patek Philippe and Vacheron
Constantin are named after people. Longines is in the tradition of Montblanc and Glashutte with evident toponimical significance.
The purchase of a land and setting up of a factory in1866 by Ernest Francillon a nephew of Auguste Agazzi at Les Longines (meaning
the long meadows in the local dialect), a little known
place in those days where the production of watches were
centralized and streamlined was a decisive
moment for the brand and the little village. In the
years to come it became one of the most
recognised symbols of precision and style in the
fascinating world of horology. The launch
of the new aviation series, Longines Avigation
Oversize Crown, takes us back to the
glorious days of early aviation when daring men
were making history. Paul Devassy
Photo: © Longines South Africa
Longines South Africa
+27(0)11 911 1273
march 27 –
april 3, 2014