As it is commonly the case with the watches from the Longines Heritage line, its latest novelty is a timepiece whose appearance and functioning are based on a historic model that can be seen in the brand’s museum in St. Imier. This time, the new piece is modeled on a pilot’s watch which was initially launched in the middle of the 20th century. The watch is unimaginatively dubbed Twenty-Four Hour Single Push-Piece Chronograph and the name itself denotes most of the basic traits of the watch. Made with a rather large diameter and a housing made of steel, the latest Longines model will be sold with a silver or a black dial. The price is set at $4,800.
24-Hour Format and the Hour Scale Pushed Closer to the Center
Let us start from the first trait hinted in the Longines newcomer’s name. The “Twenty-Four Hour” part refers to the fact that the model with the aviation heritage has its dial in the 24-hour format, instead of the common one divided to 12 segments. This can potentially confuse the wearer since it is quite different than most of us are used to. For example, what would be nine o’clock on a usual dial outlay is actually 18 o’clock in this instance. To minimize the potential confusion as much as it is possible, the brand with the winged hourglass logo has used a trick which is often seen on the faces of pilot’s watches. The hour scale is actually moved more to the center so that the hour hand points directly to the appropriate numeral. On the other hand, the minute scale which corresponds to a longer minute hand sits at the periphery of the dial. This is not the first watch from the Heritage collection with this sort of analog time display, since there is one more similar model. Unlike that timepiece which saw the light of day some time ago, the new one is equipped with a chronograph feature.
Dubiously Functional Monnopusoir Chronograph
As it can also be deduced from the watch’s name, the new Longines is supplied with a monopoussoir chronograph which is completely operated with a single push-piece that sits inside its enlarged onion-shaped crown. However, the feature is not that functional, since the maximal elapsed time of the stop-watch is restricted to 60 seconds and it is shown solely with the central hand with a counter-weight. The only other chrono sub-dial featured on the piece is a small second counter placed at the left side of the face. The part of the sub-counter which intersects the 24-hour scale bears the hour numerals. This is done with the obvious intention to enable easier reading of the hours, regardless of the hour hand position. As for the other indications on the dial of the Longines novelty with Arabic numerals and blued hands, the only remaining one is a date display which is placed at the bottom of the face.
The Original Size
Longines Twenty-Four Hour Single Push Piece Chronograph model is made in a round steel housing with the substantial diameter of 47.5 mm which matches the size of the timekeeper on which it has been modeled upon. The height of the case of the pilot’s watch is still unknown. On its front, there is a glare-proofed sapphire crystal, while the case-back is made of solid steel and decorated with the logo of the company. Its construction guarantees basic waterproofness to 30 meters.
A Pair of Classic Dial Color Options
When the beating heart of the watch is concerned, this one is actually and quite expectedly pretty different from the archetype model which ran on an altered pocket-watch caliber which was adjusted to be worn on a wrist. Unlike that one, the novel watch bases its functioning on L789 self-winding mechanical movement with a column-wheel chronograph feature. This movement which is exclusive to Longines was developed on ETA A08.L21 caliber which is not so surprising considering that both Longines and ETA are owned by the Swatch Group.
For the wristlet of Twenty-Hour Hour Single Push-Piece Chronograph, Longines chose an alligator leather strap. The color of the strap and the dial depends on the chosen variation of the model. While the reference number L2.797.4.73.o has a silver face and a brown attachment, the version with the serial number L2.797.4.53.0 is made with a black dial and a strap in the matching color. Regardless of the version, the price of the watch is $4,800.
