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Longines Pilot Majetek 43mm Mens Watch Set Box Edition
Ref. L28384539
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 249 Longines watches in stock.The original Majetek was made for the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1935, and the cushion case and fluted rotating bezel it wore then are reproduced here without concession. The commemorative plate screwed to the left of the case, engraved with that year, is the one decoration that signals re-edition rather than original — everything else reads as the kind of instrument a pilot would have strapped on before climbing into a cockpit. At 43mm across a cushion silhouette with a 51.4mm lug-to-lug span, it wears larger than a round watch of the same diameter, but downturned lugs pull it flat against the wrist rather than rocking on it. The internal Starting Time Indicator — the luminous triangle that rotates with the bezel while the crystal stays fixed — is the engineering decision that separates this from any watch that simply looks the part: Longines kept the bezel mechanism internal to hold the 100m rating without compromise. In low light the Arabic numerals, hands and tracking marker charge visibly, which is what this dial was always designed to do. The L893.6 beneath the dial carries COSC certification and a silicon balance spring, and was developed by ETA specifically for Longines heritage pieces — which means the movement accuracy and the 72-hour reserve are not coincidental to the design but part of what Longines decided this reissue had to earn.
- Reference
- L28384539
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Heritage Avigation
- Case size
- 43mm
- Case thickness
- 13.3mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Rotating
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- L893
- Functions
- Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 100m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Brown
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 51.4mm
- Power reserve
- 72 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 7 collections
This watch appears in the Longines Heritage Avigation range (5), Stainless Steel Watches (2,892), Automatic Watches (1,554), Leather Strap Watches (959), Sports Watches (708), Limited Edition Watches (180) and Pilot Watches (43).
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 100m water resistance covers swimming and watersports
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 72-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Longines's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 43mm sits at the larger end
- Leather does not suit regular contact with water
Longines Pilot Majetek alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L28384539 | N2200.18S01.C01.V01 | BM0A10616 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £3,650 | £3,800 | £3,600 |
| Case size | 43mm | 43mm | 42mm |
| Water resistance | 100m | 100m | 100m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | 72 hours | 62 hours | 120 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Yes. At 100m it is rated for swimming and snorkelling, though not for diving.
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 72 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
What size strap does it take?
22mm. 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.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 51.4mm, which suits wrists from roughly 17.5cm (7 inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £3,650, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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