Longines has two more blue watches. I realize that sentence isn’t exactly going to stop anyone in their tracks. This time it’s the Spirit Pilot and Spirit Pilot Flyback, both receiving matte blue lacquer dials. The Flyback also gets a matching blue ceramic bezel insert. We’ve seen plenty of blue from Longines, including within the Spirit collection itself, so I don’t think the color change deserves all the ceremony. My take is that the watches underneath are what make this release cool. But damn, that blue looks good.
I’m especially drawn to how clean the standard Spirit Pilot has become. Longines removed the date and the applied stars found on earlier Spirit models, leaving a full set of applied Arabic numerals and only a few lines of text. I think that was the right move. The original Spirit dial could get busy, and this version gives the numerals more room to do their job. Blue changes the personality a little, too. To me, it looks less severe than the existing black version without changing the basic character of the watch.
The case remains 39mm wide, 11.5mm thick, and 47.2mm lug-to-lug. Inside is the automatic Longines L888.4 with COSC certification and a 72-hour power reserve. You also get 100 meters of water resistance and a screw-down crown. Longines is asking $2,700 on the blue rubber strap or $3,100 on the steel bracelet with its micro-adjustable clasp.
That price caught my eye because a 40mm blue Spirit with a date currently costs $2,550 on bracelet. I think the Pilot makes a reasonable argument for the extra $550. I prefer the proportions and simplified dial, and the bracelet setup is more appealing to me. Buyers now have two fairly close interpretations of the same family separated by a meaningful amount of money, though. I’d want to see them side by side before saying how convincing that premium really is.
The Spirit Pilot Flyback is the one I find more interesting mechanically. Its stainless steel case measures 39.5mm across, 13.4mm thick, and 47.4mm lug-to-lug. That’s a welcome set of numbers for a flyback chronograph, at least on paper.
Longines uses the manually wound L792.4 here, a COSC-certified flyback chronograph movement with 68 hours of power reserve. The sapphire caseback also gives you a view of the movement and its column-wheel chronograph mechanism. I like the manual-wind choice. It gives this version a little mechanical character of its own and helps separate it from the earlier 42mm automatic Spirit Flyback.
There’s legitimate history behind that complication as well. Longines was developing flyback chronographs during the 1930s and secured a patent for the mechanism in 1936. I think that’s enough historical context to work with. We don’t need to make the blue dial carry some grand aviation narrative on top of it.
The Flyback costs $5,250 on rubber and $5,550 on bracelet. That’s a big jump from the three-hander. In my opinion, the proposition is still pretty compelling: 39.5mm, manual winding, COSC certification, 68 hours of reserve, and an actual flyback chronograph from a company with history tied to the complication. I’d still want hands-on time before making any broader value judgment at more than $5,000. My question is simpler. How many blue Spirit watches does Longines need?
I don’t have a clever answer for that. The color is familiar, the collection is already crowded, and neither watch introduces a major technical change with this release. I still like what I’m seeing. To me, that’s mostly because Longines got the underlying Spirit Pilot designs right before reaching for another dial color. Sometimes another blue watch is just another blue watch. These happen to be pretty interesting ones.
Co-Founder & Senior Editor
Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.