Page 129 - Sharp Winter 2025

LONGINES × SHARP
GOLD MINE
THE LONGINES SPIRIT FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH ADDS TWO NEW DIAL COLOURS AND A TOUCH OF GOLD
THE WORLD’S BEST WATCHES DON’T JUST LOOK GREAT
with your weekday wardrobe, they also have a story to tell. The newest Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph is equal parts style and substance, with a classic tool watch design rooted in the golden era of aviation, and a high-flying origin story to match. For style, look to the watch’s green or brown gradient dial, matching calfskin strap, and stainless-steel case embellished with the glow of 18K yellow or rose gold — all of which are tailor-made to complement your nattiest suits, jeans, and polos. For substance, look to its Swiss-made flyback chronograph movement, a technology pioneered by Longines nearly a century ago.
The Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph was introduced in 2023, but its legacy goes back to a time when the world’s most daring flyers attempted to outdo each other with ever more audacious feats. In the 1920s, long before the days of GPS, Longines created a stopwatch that could be stopped, reset, and restarted with a single button, a major advantage for anyone reading a map while flying an airplane. Longines would go on to patent the invention in the 1930s, and among its early adopters was American aviator and U.S. naval officer Richard Byrd, who set out to become the first man to fly over the South Pole in 1928.
Byrd’s previous adventures had included a non-stop flight across the Atlantic and a death-defying expedition over the North Pole, both of which made him a national hero in his homeland. In November 1929, a month after establishing a base camp dubbed “Little America” on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf, Byrd and his crew boarded their Ford Trimotor aircraft and took flight, using just a solar compass and a Longines chronograph to find their way. Nineteen hours later, after covering a distance of 1,290 kilometres, Byrd returned triumphant once again, praising the accuracy and reliability of his watch in a radiogram to Longines.
You won’t likely be using your watch to navigate a flimsy experimental aircraft over an unexplored continent, but the Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph remains up to the challenge, nonetheless. Inside is a self-winding mechanical movement with a silicon balance spring and a power reserve of up to 68 hours that’s been chronometer-rated by COSC, the Swiss governing body for accuracy and reliability. Resistant to shocks, temperature changes, and magnetism, it looks as impressive as it sounds thanks to a display case back that reveals a yellow or rose gold oscillating weight, blued screws, and surfaces decorated with traditional perlage engraving.
These luxurious finishes continue throughout the watch, including a gold-accented bezel, winding crown, hands, and chronograph pushers. Despite its luxurious appearance, the new Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph is just as tough as its forebears thanks to durable elements such as an anti-reflective sapphire crystal and a ceramic bezel insert colour-matched to the dial. Super-LumiNova Old Radium lume on the gilded hands and hour markers, meanwhile, ensures optimum visibility in low light, whether in a darkened cockpit or a movie theatre. That makes the new Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph a finely calibrated timekeeping tool with standout style, and 100 years of heritage to its credit, which is the exact combination you should look for in your next watch.
Shop the new Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph (starting from $8,000.00 CAD) online at Longines.ca.
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