Blue has always held a special place in watchmaking. Elegant without being too formal, sporty without being over the top, it is one of those colors capable of giving a watch personality and making it suitable for a wide variety of occasions. Longines has chosen it for the latest additions to the Spirit Pilot collection, bringing a breath of fresh air to two models that, ever since their debut in 2025, have captured the attention of watch enthusiasts.
This introduces four new models, divided between the 39 mm Longines Spirit Pilot and the 39.5 mm Spirit Pilot Flyback, each available with a stainless steel bracelet or a blue rubber strap. The result is a small family of watches that retains all the distinctive elements of the line while introducing a particularly striking color scheme.
Both models share an aviation-inspired design, COSC chronometer certification, and water resistance to 100 meters, but they offer quite different experiences. The Spirit Pilot is a well-proportioned automatic three-hand watch, designed for those seeking a timepiece that can be worn effortlessly every day. The Flyback adds the allure of a historic complication, a hand-wound movement, and a ceramic bezel that accentuates its technical character.
A choice that might turn out to be less obvious than expected, especially for those who are considering buying a new watch to add to their collection.
Longines and Aviation: A Story That Has Continued Since the Last Century
Throughout the 20th century, the Saint-Imier factory supported some of the most important figures in the history of flight, contributing to the development of precision instruments for aviation navigation. Among the most famous names are Amelia Earhart, who made the first solo transatlantic flight by a woman; Elinor Smith, an American aviation pioneer; and Richard Byrd, an explorer known for his polar expeditions.
In an era when navigation required manual calculations and extremely reliable instruments, timekeeping was of fundamental importance. Longines thus developed expertise that would help shape some of the most fascinating chapters in its history as a watchmaker.
Among these, the flyback chronograph holds a special place, a complication that allows the chronograph measurement to be reset and restarted with a single press, without first having to stop the chronograph. Longines was among the pioneers of this technology, filing a patent in 1935 that would mark an important milestone in the evolution of chronographs designed for aviation.
The Spirit collection, introduced in 2020, builds on this legacy and reinterprets it in a contemporary style. The Pilot and Pilot Flyback models, both introduced in 2025, represent two of its most recent interpretations, with a particular focus on readability, movement quality, and comfort.
Longines Spirit Pilot: The Charm of a 39 mm Watch
Let’s start with the most basic model in the new collection, the Longines Spirit Pilot, which takes on a particularly interesting personality with its matte blue dial.
The stainless steel case measures 39 mm in diameter, 11.50 mm in thickness, and 47.20 mm from lug to lug, dimensions that make it a very well-balanced option for those who appreciate pilot’s watches but prefer to avoid the larger diameters typical of this category.
The 20 mm distance between the lugs also contributes to the model’s versatility, allowing you to choose from different strap options.
A glance at the dial immediately reveals the aesthetic language of the Spirit collection. The twelve applied, rhodium-plated Arabic numerals, coated with Super-LumiNova, stand out sharply against the matte blue surface. The polished rhodium-plated hands, also treated with luminescent material, complement the clearly defined outer hour markers, making it particularly intuitive to tell the time.
The absence of a date window helps keep the dial clean and symmetrical, a feature that enthusiasts of time-only watches will certainly appreciate. The blue color, moreover, gives the watch a more refined look than the traditional black configuration, while still maintaining the readability required of an aviation-inspired watch.
The dial is protected by a domed sapphire crystal with a multi-layer anti-reflective coating applied to both sides. The screw-down crown and screw-down case back complete a water-resistant design rated to 10 bar, equivalent to 100 meters.
The L888.4 Caliber
Inside the Spirit Pilot is the Longines L888.4 automatic caliber, an exclusive movement from the brand that is one of the most interesting features of this model.
The caliber measures 11½ lines, features 21 jewels, and operates at a frequency of 25,200 vibrations per hour, equivalent to 3.5 Hz. The power reserve lasts up to 72 hours, a feature that is particularly appreciated in everyday use: it means you can leave the watch untouched over the weekend and find it still running on Monday morning.
The silicon spiral, along with other components designed to improve resistance to magnetic fields, enables the movement to achieve performance up to ten times greater than the requirements of the ISO 764 standard. This feature is becoming increasingly important given the presence of electronic devices and magnetic sources in everyday life.
Rounding out the technical specifications is the COSC chronometer certification, which attests that the watch has passed rigorous accuracy tests.
Longines offers two configurations for the new Spirit Pilot. The L3.809.4.93.6 model features a stainless steel bracelet with a folding clasp equipped with a dual safety system, push-button release, and micro-adjustment. This is a practical solution, especially on days when the circumference of the wrist tends to vary slightly.
The L3.809.4.93.9 model, on the other hand, features a blue Swiss-made rubber strap with a steel pin buckle and an interchangeable strap system. The combination with the dial creates a particularly harmonious look, accentuating the model’s sporty character.
The stainless steel bracelet highlights the Spirit Pilot’s versatility, making it suitable even for more formal occasions, while the blue rubber strap accentuates the collection’s sporty character. These two versions allow you to choose between a more classic look and a contemporary style, which is particularly comfortable to wear during leisure time and in the summer months.
Longines Spirit Pilot Flyback: The Chronograph in Blue
Moving on to the Spirit Pilot Flyback, the design language changes significantly. The dial retains the same matte blue hue, but the addition of the two chronograph sub-dials, the rotating bezel, and the pushers introduces a greater richness of detail.
The model retains the proportions of the version introduced in 2025, with a stainless steel case measuring 39.5 mm in diameter and 13.40 mm in thickness. The distance between the lugs is 47.40 mm, while the center-to-center distance is 20 mm. These are appealing dimensions for a mechanical chronograph with a flyback function, especially for those who want to explore this complication without necessarily having to choose a 42 or 44 mm watch.
The matte blue dial features a bicompax layout, with a small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock. The central hand tracks the chronograph seconds, while the main hands indicate the hours and minutes.
The ten rhodium-plated Arabic numerals are coated with Super-LumiNova, as are the hands, ensuring excellent readability even in low-light conditions.
One of the most interesting new design features is the bidirectional rotating bezel with a blue ceramic insert, which features a countdown scale. The reference triangle and Arabic numerals are coated with a luminescent material, allowing the bezel to be used even when ambient light is low.
This feature allows you to set a time interval and track its passage via the position of the minute hand, adding a practical function that operates independently of the chronograph. It is a detail that helps make the Spirit Pilot Flyback a true timekeeping instrument, as well as a watch with a striking aesthetic.
The box-shaped sapphire crystal, with a multi-layer anti-reflective coating on both sides, complements the case design, evoking the domed crystals of historic watches. The construction ensures water resistance up to 100 meters.
The L792.4 Caliber
The most fascinating feature of the Spirit Pilot Flyback is found on the back of the case, where the screw-down transparent case back with sapphire crystal offers a view of the Longines L792.4 caliber.
This is a hand-wound chronograph movement, developed exclusively for the Maison and featuring a column wheel and flyback function. Its architecture features 23 jewels, operates at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), and offers a power reserve of up to 68 hours.
The column wheel is a component particularly prized by enthusiasts of mechanical chronographs, as it coordinates the various operations of the chronograph mechanism through a sophisticated design traditionally associated with high-quality movements.
The flyback function, on the other hand, allows you to reset and restart the chronograph immediately while it is running. To understand the advantage, just imagine having to measure several consecutive intervals: with a traditional chronograph, you have to stop the measurement, reset it, and start it again. With the flyback function, the last two operations are performed with a single command.
A mechanism that still holds a special appeal today, especially considering the role Longines played in its development during the 1930s.
The L792.4 caliber also features a silicon hairspring and components resistant to magnetic fields, in accordance with the requirements of ISO 764, and is certified as a chronometer by the COSC.
Through the case back, you can admire the movement’s finishes, including decorated bridges, blued screws, and various components of the chronograph mechanism. The manual-winding mechanism also offers a clearer view of the caliber’s architecture, free from the oscillating weight typical of automatic movements.
For those who enjoy watching a mechanical watch in action, this is a detail that certainly adds value to the experience of owning one.
The Spirit Pilot Flyback is also available in two configurations. The L3.721.4.93.6 model features a stainless steel case paired with a metal bracelet featuring a folding clasp, a dual safety system, and micro-adjustment. Reference L3.721.4.93.9, on the other hand, features a blue Swiss-made rubber strap, complete with a steel pin buckle and an interchangeable strap system.
On this model, the blue rubber strap creates a particularly striking combination with the ceramic bezel and dial, resulting in a decidedly sporty look. The stainless steel bracelet, on the other hand, highlights the contrast between the metal surfaces of the case and the blue elements of the dial and bezel.
Spirit Pilot or Spirit Pilot Flyback: Which One Should You Choose?
At this point, choosing between the two models might turn out to be more interesting than expected.
The Spirit Pilot boasts an extremely clean design, an automatic movement with a 72-hour power reserve, and proportions that make it particularly well-suited for everyday wear. It’s a watch that could easily appeal to someone looking to buy their first Longines, but it would also find a place in the collection of an enthusiast seeking a well-built, easy-to-read three-hand watch with a distinct identity.
The Flyback, on the other hand, offers a different experience. The chronograph, manual winding, transparent case back, and ceramic bezel add several points of interest, especially for those who love mechanical complications and want a watch with a technical story to tell.
The differences in size are also worth noting. The diameter varies by just half a millimeter, ranging from 39 mm on the Spirit Pilot to 39.5 mm on the Flyback, while the thickness increases from 11.50 to 13.40 mm. That’s nearly two millimeters, which can be noticeable on the wrist, especially for those accustomed to wearing slim watches.
In both versions, the blue adds a pleasant touch of personality. On the time-only model, the clean lines of the dial really stand out, while on the chronograph, the blue complements the ceramic bezel and the two sub-dials, creating a more complex overall look.
Among the four models, the 39 mm Spirit Pilot with a steel bracelet stands out as one of the most well-balanced options, thanks to its combination of proportions, certified precision, and versatility. The Flyback with a blue rubber strap, on the other hand, offers a particularly appealing alternative for chronograph enthusiasts: the color scheme highlights the dial and ceramic bezel, while the hand-wound movement adds a fascinating mechanical element.
Which one would you choose? The simplicity and practicality of the automatic three-hand watch, or the charm of the Flyback chronograph, featuring one of the most iconic complications in Longines’ history?
Prices, Availability, and Final Thoughts
The four new Longines Spirit Pilot models are available at different prices depending on the model and configuration selected.
For the Spirit Pilot, the L3.809.4.93.9 model with a blue rubber strap is priced at €2,600, while the L3.809.4.93.6 model with a steel bracelet is priced at €3,000.
Moving on to the Spirit Pilot Flyback, the L3.721.4.93.9 model with a blue rubber strap is priced at €5,150, while the L3.721.4.93.6, featuring a steel bracelet, is priced at €5,500.
Looking at these new releases as a whole, it becomes clear just how successfully the Spirit Pilot collection has carved out an interesting niche within the brand’s lineup. The 39 mm three-hand model, in particular, offers a compelling combination of technical features, size, and price, with a COSC-certified automatic movement and a power reserve that exceeds that of many competitors in the same price range.
The Flyback is positioned in a higher price bracket, justified by the chronograph’s greater mechanical complexity and the inclusion of specific design elements, such as the column wheel, the transparent case back, and the ceramic bezel. It is a model that deserves attention, especially from those who wish to explore a historically significant complication without necessarily turning to even more expensive market segments.
The new blue color option expands the range of choices and makes both models particularly pleasing to the eye. The Longines Spirit Pilot thus continues to celebrate the brand’s aviation heritage through practical, technically sophisticated watches designed to be worn, striking that perfect balance between history and modernity that has always been one of the strengths of the Saint-Imier-based brand.
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