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Longines Spirit Pilot Flyback Chronograph 39.5mm Mens Watch Black
Ref. L37214536
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.Longines traces its involvement in flyback chronography to 1936, when it registered the patent for the mechanism that lets a pilot reset and restart the seconds hand in a single push rather than three. This watch is the distilled form of that tradition: where the previous Spirit Flyback ran at 42mm with an automatic movement, this reference pulls back to 39.5mm and returns to the manual wind that the original 1930s instruments used, a decision that is about fidelity as much as size. The dial reads unmistakably as a working instrument — matte black with gilt Arabic numerals and sword hands, the sort of layout that was functional before it was fashionable. At 47.7mm lug to lug, it sits closer to the wrist than the generation it replaced, and 13.4mm of thickness is restrained for a movement carrying a flyback complication and a COSC chronometer rating. The ceramic bezel insert resists scratching in everyday use in a way that an anodised aluminium ring simply cannot. The L792.4 at the centre is a column-wheel flyback movement built to COSC tolerances with a silicon balance spring — that combination means antimagnetic resilience and a 68-hour reserve on a full wind. The bracelet's micro-adjustment clasp earns its keep: wrist size changes across a long day, and being able to move a link's worth of fit without tools is a small thing that becomes a habitual convenience.
- Reference
- L37214536
- Brand
- Longines
- Collection
- Spirit
- Case size
- 39.5mm
- Case thickness
- 13.4mm
- Lug width
- 20mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Bidirectional rotating
- Movement
- Automatic
- Functions
- Chronograph, Countdown timer
- Water resistance
- 100m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Silver
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 47.7mm
- Power reserve
- 68 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 Spirit range (34), Back in Stock (4,361), Stainless Steel Watches (2,892), Automatic Watches (1,554), Chronograph Watches (1,144), Sports Watches (708) and Pilot Watches (43).
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 100m water resistance covers swimming and watersports
- 39.5mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 68-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
Longines Spirit Pilot Flyback alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | L37214536 | 85358TT09.BTT82 | N2201.19S04.K01.S01 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £4,550 | £4,500 | £4,690 |
| Case size | 39.5mm | 40mm | 40mm |
| Water resistance | 100m | 100m | 100m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Fabric strap | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | 68 hours | 38 hours | 62 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 68 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.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 47.7mm, which suits wrists from roughly 16.5cm (6½ 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, though at 39.5mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
Cheapest place to buy
Mappin & Webb is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference, so there is nothing to compare it against today.
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