Tap the image to enlarge
Longines Avigation BigEye 41mm Mens Watch
Ref. L28161932
Sits in Longines’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Longines watches we list, which start at £900.
Price range £900 to £22,850 across 254 Longines watches in stock.Longines has been supplying chronographs to aviators since the early days of civil and military flight, and the BigEye draws directly from that history — specifically a 1930s cockpit design in which the 30-minute counter was enlarged to fill almost the entire upper half of the dial, so a pilot under pressure could read elapsed time without hesitation. That oversized sub-dial at three o'clock is still the defining feature, and the petroleum blue dial, grained and shaded rather than flat, shifts between deep teal and near-black depending on the angle of light in a way that suits the instrument-gauge aesthetic better than any conventional sunburst finish would. The titanium case keeps the watch noticeably lighter on the wrist than its 41mm footprint and 14.5mm profile might suggest, which matters on a long flight or across a working day. The L688 — an ETA A08 built to Longines tolerances — runs on a silicon balance spring, making it resistant to the kind of magnetic interference that is routine in cockpit environments, and its 66-hour reserve means a weekend off the wrist will not stop it. The column-wheel chronograph engages with a precision the specification table cannot capture: it starts cleanly and stops without bounce. The screw-down caseback carries aviation engraving, and the titanium pin buckle means the strap hardware matches the case rather than sitting in contrast to it — a small decision that reads as considered rather than accidental once you notice it.
- Reference
- L28161932
- Brand
- Longines
- Case size
- 41mm
- Case thickness
- 14.50mm
- Lug width
- 20mm
- Case material
- Titanium
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Blue
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- ETA A08.L01
- Functions
- Chronograph, Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Brown
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 66 hours
Learn more about Longines
Auguste Agassiz began trading watches in Saint-Imier in 1832, but the modern company dates from 1860, when his nephew Ernest Francillon built a factory in the meadows beside the Suze — the longines of the local dialect — and consolidated the scattered outworkers of the region under one roof.
Longines registered its winged hourglass in 1889. It is the oldest watch trademark still in continuous use.
The company's identity was built on precision and on timing things in public. It supplied chronographs for the first modern Olympic events it timed in 1896, timed the 1912 Federal Gymnastics Festival with a broken-wire mechanism accurate to a hundredth of a second, and developed the photo-finish camera and the quartz timing devices used across twentieth-century athletics.
Its aviation associations are equally deep. Longines instruments were carried by Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic in 1927, and the Hour Angle watch, designed to Lindbergh's own specification to simplify longitude calculation, remains in the catalogue. Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes both navigated by Longines.
The house was among the most decorated at nineteenth-century observatory trials, holding numerous precision records. Since joining the Swatch Group in 1983 it has occupied the accessible-heritage position: exclusive ETA-based movements, archive-driven designs through the Heritage line, and volume that makes it one of the group's most important brands.
- 1860
- Ernest Francillon builds the factory at Les Longines.
- 1889
- The winged hourglass is registered — the oldest watch trademark in use.
- 1912
- Broken-wire timing achieves hundredth-second accuracy.
- 1927
- Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic with Longines instruments.
- 1983
- Becomes part of the Swatch Group.
Also in 6 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (4,908), Automatic Watches (1,645), Chronograph Watches (1,299), Leather Strap Watches (1,065), Blue Dial Watches (917) and Titanium Watches (170).
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 66-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Longines's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
- 14.5mm thick, so it will not disappear under a cuff
Longines Avigation BigEye alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L28161932 | 2020.001S | FC-718N4NH6B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £3,800 | £3,700 | £3,995 |
| Case size | 41mm | 41mm | 41mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Fabric strap | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | 66 hours | 38 hours | 38 hours |
| This watch |
|
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
No. At 30m it will survive rain and handwashing, but not submersion of any kind.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 66 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
What size strap does it take?
20mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £3,800, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
More Longines watches like the Avigation BigEye
In stock, and close on style and price
