Swiss luxury watchmaker replica Longines has launched the Longines Pilot Majetek, a modern recreation of the historic pilot’s watch of the 1930s. As a new Heritage Aviation product that is different from the Spirit Collection that inherits the company’s long heritage of Pilot Watches, Longines’ talent for reprinting design shines.
Longines’ history of manufacturing aviation timepieces with rotating bezels dates back to the 1920s. A clock that is fixed to the dashboard inside the biplane is used, and a chronometer-class manual movement with 8-day power reserve, influenced by the previous generation of marine chronometers, is installed. It has influenced the design.
You can see the unique signature design codes of the Longines Pilot replica Watches, such as the fluted rotating bezel, moving hour markers, oversized onion crown, and cathedral hands.
Later, in the 1930s, dashboard cockpit clocks and wristwatches with rotating bezels and so-called moving hour markers began to be produced. The moving hour marker coated with radium-based luminescent paint is designed to rotate in conjunction with a fluted rotating bezel with grooves and concavo-convex processing for easy operation even when the pilot is wearing flight gloves. It was developed for memorization purposes. It is useful for measuring important flight times, such as when changing routes mid-flight.
Meanwhile, in 1935, Longines produced a model (Ref. 3582) with a design quite different from the existing pilot’s watch. On April 1 of the same year, the unique design, featuring a bold cushion-type case, fluted rotating bezel and moving hour markers, was registered and protected by the International Industrial Property Office in Bern, Switzerland. . During World War II, the Air Force of the Czechoslovak Independence Army commissioned the production of a pilot fake watches, and the military pilot watch that adopted the original design of reference 3582 was provided to about 1,700 combat aviators from 1939 to 1945. do.
At that time, the caseback of the model was engraved with a Czech phrase meaning ‘Property of the Czech Army (Majetek Vojenske Spravy)’, so the reference 3582 vintage became more familiar with the nickname ‘Majetek’ among collectors in later generations. (property should be pronounced Mayetak in Czech, but follows the Global English notation). The characteristic design of Reference 3582 was later reinterpreted as a reprint design, such as the Longines Heritage 1935, but as you know, the original moving hour markers were omitted. But finally, in 2023, a model that perfectly reproduces the earliest Longines Majetek in the 1930s was born. In addition, the symbolic name Majetec was used as it is.
Returning to its original 1935 design, the Longines Pilot Majetek is presented in a cushioned stainless steel case. The diameter of the case is 43mm and the thickness is 13.3mm, revealing its presence from its size. While remaining faithful to the original character of the Pilot Watch, the size and dial design emphasizing readability were taken into consideration so that pilots would have no difficulty in checking the time immediately on the wrist during actual flight.
Like the original Mazetec from 1935, you can see the triangular moving hour markers that move in conjunction with the fluted bezel inside the dial. However, the brand has given it a new intuitive name: Starting Time Indicator. A patented gear system is applied between the rotating bezel and the middle case to hide the secret of the start time indicator operation. Regarding the case structure, please check the official film shared by the brand.
The start time indicator, of course, is coated with Superluminova so that it can be used for night flights. Along with the classic Railroad minute track on the matte black dial that prevents light scattering, the Arabic numeral indexes are thickly filled with beige-colored Super-LumiNova, which reproduces the old radium tone of the vintage pilot’s watch, ensuring sufficient readability in any environment. do. Of course, the center of the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands reminiscent of a pencil is also coated with beige Super-LumiNova. The front glass uses a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating on both sides, contributing to excellent readability.
