Ninety Years Ago Today, Longines Changed the Chronograph

by Brent Robillard Ubiquity breeds familiarity The most successful watchmaking inventions often become so commonplace that we forget they were inventions at all. The rotating dive bezel. The GMT hand. The automatic winding rotor… The flyback chronograph falls squarely into that category. Today, if you spend enough time around pilot’s watches or military chronographs, you’ll eventually encounter the term. Most enthusiasts know what a flyback … Continue reading Ninety Years Ago Today, Longines Changed the Chronograph

Longines, Aviation, and the Moment I Fell Down the Rabbit Hole

By Brent Robillard Aviation, navigation, and the advent of “avigation” Introduction: Up in the Air If you’d asked me ten years ago what first pulled me toward Longines, I wouldn’t have said aviation—not even close. For me, it started underwater. The Legend Diver, the Ultra-Chron Diver, even the HydroConquest. Solid, handsome dive watches with real lineage and none of the fuss. Longines, in my mind, … Continue reading Longines, Aviation, and the Moment I Fell Down the Rabbit Hole

Hands-On with the New Longines Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback

by Brent Robillard First in Flight When I saw Longines’ 2025 novelties earlier this year in New York, two pieces stood out immediately—the new Spirit Pilot and the Spirit Pilot Flyback. That’s no small statement in a year that also gave us a white-dial Legend Diver and the evocative Spirit Zulu Time 1925 (which I now own). But if the Zulu Time carried forward Longines’ … Continue reading Hands-On with the New Longines Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback