The Longines Avigation Oversize Crown, launched in 2013, is modeled on a Longines pilots? watch from the 1920s. Its most salient feature is, as its name suggests, its crown, which is prominent not just because it?s huge but because it protrudes very far from the case.
In the chronograph version of the watch, the one we tested, a chronograph button is integrated into the crown. The watch is a monopoussoir: the same button is used to start, stop and reset the chronograph.
The movement is ETA?s automatic Caliber A08.L11, which Longines renamed the L788.2. That name appears in gold-filled lettering on the winding rotor. The L788.2 is a variation of ETA?s A08.L01, which debuted in 2010 and is derived from the ETA 7753. ETA sells the A08.L11 only to Longines; both companies are owned by the Swatch Group. Unlike the ETA 7753, which has coulisse switching, the L788.2 has a blued column wheel. It also has a longer power reserve, 54 vs. 46 hours. Other modifications made to the ETA movement include altering the shape of the regulator mechanism and of the shock absorbers. Longines Avigation Oversize Crown
Thanks at least in part to the column wheel, the chronograph is easy to operate: little pressure is needed to trigger the start, stop and reset functions. The column wheel is invisible, though, because the watch has a steel caseback, which is pressure-fit rather than screwed in place. It is rather unexcitingly   engraved with the model?s long name, ?The Longines Avigation Oversize ...