Longines Spirit Owner Review : Rigorous, efficient and aggressive

The notion of luxury is unique to each individual, and for some, this watch doesn't meet their criteria, but it does meet mine. It was the first time I'd spent so much money on a watch. A historic brand that has contributed enormously to watchmaking, Longines is considered a pioneer in luxury watchmaking by many enthusiasts and watch enthusiasts. I discovered the Spirit collection in 2021, and my interest in the model quickly grew. It met many of my favorite features, such as applied indexes, a deep sunray dial, and beautiful curved work on the case, beautifully highlighted by cleverly placed chamfers. Like a good pilot's watch, it features an oversized (screw-down) crown that's easy to operate. The dial is extremely legible, even in the dark. One element that quickly struck me was the lume, which is much better than on the rest of my collection. Even with minimal exposure time, the dial illuminates the darkness with intensity. Longines has gone to great lengths, and the finishing touches are not lacking. Like a good tool watch, we find beautiful brushed finishes on the case and bracelet, and the dial is wonderfully executed. I find it more beautiful than that of the IWC Mark XX (or whatever the number is, for that matter). Longines also has a wonderful history with aviation, and I think this Spirit collection is perfectly legitimate within the Longines catalog. One detail I really like about this dial is the red diamond on the second hand, which perfectly overlaps with the diamonds punctuating the Arabic numeral hour markers. Now let's move on to what's a bit more annoying: firstly, the date, which I think could have been better integrated. The aperture is far from the diamond, and the date disc doesn't match the dial color. It's a small detail, I admit; however, the following points are less about details and more about inconveniences that personally bother me when wearing the watch. The lugs are too long on this model, and if your wrist isn't wide, I highly recommend the 37 mm. Finally, the case edges are very pronounced and can be uncomfortable on the wrist. Aside from that, the watch is very versatile and well-executed. You can tell that, despite some flaws, the manufacturer took the time and thought through the design of this new collection. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the most recent collection in the Longines catalog. As I mentioned above, it celebrates Longines' history with aviation, particularly the Zulu Time model, which features the GMT complication that Longines pioneered, whether as a wristwatch or a pocket watch.