The web has been buzzing in regards to the new Longines Pilot Majetek, the most recent within the model’s lengthy line of aviation-inspired watches, and we’ve to hitch the social gathering, too, after seeing the watch in metallic. The novel right here is that the little arrow you see there below the sapphire crystal turns with the bezel, however the watch stays faithfully water-proof to 100 meters. This does not sound like a lot, written so prosaically like this, but it surely’s an actual pleasure to observe the arrow swing in particular person. The opposite speedy factor to notice about Majetek is the which means of the identify, which requires a fast detour into historical past.
The unique Majetek was made in 1935 and its full identify was Majetek Vojenske Spravy, though it wasn’t a mannequin identify or something like that. It merely means the property of the army administration, which it was as a result of Longines did it for the Czechoslovak Air Drive; The Majetek bit means property, though the nickname most likely caught as a result of it sounds cool. Sadly, we solely have a lot house to get into this so we’ll have to come back again to this subject one other time. To the present Majetek watch!
Cushion formed with a spherical fluted bezel and dial, the Majetek is typical of Thirties timepieces, though you may elevate an eyebrow (or two) on the 43mm measurement. It’s price remembering right here that this watch was most likely worn over a jacket, as historical aviators used to do; it’s extremely chilly within the environment and early airplanes did not even have pressurized cabins. Longines didn’t state the precise case measurement of the unique watch, however the truth that it was an expert instrument (1,700 have been made for the pilots who flew with the RAF throughout World Warfare II) signifies that it could have been fairly a big watch.
In any case, we have been pleased to see a watchmaking innovation that has to do with the case slightly than the motion. Feeling and manipulating the bezel is an actual pleasure, much like these watches that use the bezel to manage a motion perform, or the everyday unidirectional bezel of the dive watch. This one works easily so do not anticipate any clicks right here. Longines initially developed this cell indicator below the glass in 1930 in wristwatch kind, and it was a easy affair – a cell luminescent hour marker mixed with a cell bezel. The aim right here was to permit pilots to trace departure instances, or another variable that may enable them to navigate on the fly.
The unique was not water-proof in any respect, and Longines needed to create a brand new system to allow this within the new Pilot Majetek; a plate on the case aspect at 9 o’clock hides a patented gear mechanism that Longines says permits the bezel to be linked to the marker below the sapphire crystal with out compromising water resistance. The watch is powered by the automated caliber L893.6, which was developed solely for Longines, with a silicone hairspring with a operating time of 72 hours. The watch is COSC licensed so it’s a chronometer.
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