Longines introduced its Spirit collection last year, drawing its main inspiration from the timepieces that it produced in the early 20th century for pilots and explorers; Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Paul-Emile Victor were among the brand?s most famous wearers, along with Charles Lindbergh, who famously co-designed the Hour Angle, Longines? most emblematic and enduring pilots? watch. The Spirit models are not ?pilots? watches? in the strictest sense of the word, but rather can be described as ?Pilot Style? timepieces, with a host of elements drawn from the past along with features that are definitively modern.

Longines Spirit Chronograph 42mm (Ref. L3.820.4.93.0)

A while back, I had the opportunity to review the three-hand date model in steel and more recently I finally got my eager hands on the model that most caught my eye when the series was launched back in Spring 2020 ? the Spirit Chronograph in a steel case with a sunburst blue dial. In just about every respect, the timepiece proved to be worth the wait.
The watch?s 42-mm case sits large but not intimidatingly so on the wrist, and at a fairly thick 15 mm in profile, definitely makes its presence felt. Like its three-handed brethren in the Spirit collection, it sports a thin, dramatically angled bezel framing the dial, giving said dial an impressively wide presence. The sharply angled, faceted lugs are satin-brushed on their largest surfaces, and polished on their angled facets. The bezel ring has a shin...