Longines Avigation BigEye Watch Review

Longines Avigation BigEye Watch Review

Longines Avigation BigEye Watch Review

Inspired with a chronograph in the 1930s

The Longines Avigation BigEye unites aviation background and modern watchmaking and has a column-wheel movement manufactured solely for Longines. We evaluate the watch within this feature from your June 2018 issue.

Longines Avigation BigEye Watch Review

How can this be chronograph named “BigEye”? You can observe the main reason looking to you whenever you consider the dial: a sizable counter at 3 o’clock around the Longines Avigation BigEye tallies the passed minutes. It may also help you time your 5-minute steamed egg in the morning. But manages! The lengthy index strokes mark every third minute and never, out of the box more prevalent, every fifth minute. Then when the hands reaches the very first stroke, your egg continues to be almost raw, so when it reaches the 2nd stroke, that very same egg has already been hard-steamed. The gradual sneaking motion from the arrow-formed passed-minute hands is unusual also. It's important to look carefully if you wish to read passed times precisely, however the scales are nicely printed and readable. The subdial at 6 o’clock counts 12 passed hrs. The hands above this disk also advances continuously within the subdivisions, where Arabic numerals with square dots mark the entire hrs, and slender white-colored strokes show the half hrs.

There's no date indicator, however the time display

The little seconds at 9 o’clock and also the stopwatch cadrature all fit in with Caliber L688.2, which is dependant on ETA Valgranges Caliber A08.L01 and manufactured solely for Longines. After undergoing modification and obtaining a co-axial escapement, this column-wheel chronograph can also be the foundation for Omega’s Caliber 3330. In the past, Longines was hunting for a chronograph caliber with column wheel to power its lower-priced watches. The end result, that was initially designated A08.231 and subsequently renamed A08.L01, has been around since 2010 as Longines L688 and then as Longines L788. It really works with wheel coupling along with a two-armed return-to-zero hammer. Pressure points for operating the chronograph’s pushers, which seem like they’re putting on old-fashioned top hats, are very well balanced and reliable. The form of those user-friendly push-pieces is affected by the brand’s history, that has been the muse for Longines’s Heritage line. The Avigation BigEye belongs to this series and it is a reinterpretation of the pilots’ watch in the 1930s. The matte-finished and classically styled situation having a terraced bezel, a strongly edged azure very along with a fully threaded screw-at the spine embellished with special engraving underlines the historic look. The brown leather strap includes a vintage appearance that recalls historic pilots’ watches, however the edges from the lugs really are a bit sharp.

The matte black dial is similar to the early many years of aviation 

And it is readable because of its bold contrasts. And despite the existence of three subdials, time display remains dominant: a set of straight and well-proportioned hands sweep past Arabic numerals, all nine which glow brightly at nighttime. A couple of from the hour numerals are generally entirely absent or slightly truncated to create room for that subdials, a small blemish already seen on historic chronographs, however the time is seen night or day.

The Longines Avigation BigEye that people tested acquired between 4 and 5 seconds each day. It maintained this slight gain whether or not this was fully wound or have been permitted to operate for any couple of hrs, if the chronograph was switched off or on. The movement ticks with equilibrium and keeps time precisely once the watch is around the wrist. The stainless-steel situation is almost 41 mm across and it is ergonomically formed lugs, along with the handsome, supple leather strap using its pin buckle, lead towards the watch’s putting on comfort. The whole ensemble causes it to be an enjoyment to recall a bygone era.