Flying back to the past with the Longines Avigation Watch A-7 1935

For fans of the pilot’s watches, the new Longines Avigation Watch A-7 1935 is something to keep an eye out for. We have covered watches inspired by modern fighter jets and US Army pilot’s watches of the 70s, but this piece harks back to the 1930s when the concept of commercial flight was still at the stage of infancy.

Most timepieces built during this era were built to serve a purpose; and thus, every design element you see on the remake of the A-7 can be explained. First, the unorthodox rotation on the alignment of the dial was done so that the pilots could read the time with their hands firmly on the yoke of the aeroplane. Then come the bulbous crown and its monopusher chronograph construction. The larger crown and the grooves would help pilots to adjust the time even with their gloves on, while the single pusher made it much easier to control the chronograph.

The watch you see here today was based on the Type A-7 model commissioned by the U.S. Air Force in 1935. To be fair, Longines has released quite a few of these watches in their Heritage collection like this one in 2013 or this one in 2016. However, this new version is the one that comes closest to the original piece as you can see in the images below.

The stainless steel case measures in at 41mm and the dial is matte black with large Arabic numerals and the part that I like the most, is the train track chapter ring. Underneath this is the Calibre L788.2 column-wheel chronograph movement made by ETA exclusively for Longines with 54 hours of power reserve.

The Longines Avigation Watch Type A-7 will have an MSRP of MYR 13,550.

Case: Stainless steel
Case size: 41mm
Crystal: Sapphire with anti-reflective coating
Movement: Calibre L788.2 (ETA A08.L11)
Water Resistance: 30m
Price: MYR 13,550