still to be verified
still to be verified
In brief
Press the pusher on a 13ZN and the chronograph hand snaps back to zero and sets off again in one action, with no need to stop it first: that is the flyback. Behind it sit a column wheel and a level of finishing still studied today as a benchmark for pre-war chronograph work. It counts among the great hand-wound chronographs Swiss watchmaking has produced.
Short history
Longines developed it in the 1930s, when air navigation was in its golden age and the brand was supplying precision instruments to pilots and explorers. Flyback earned its keep in dead reckoning, where a pilot had to start one timed run after another without losing seconds fiddling with the chronograph. On that reputation Longines built a whole family of aviation watches, among them those tied to Charles Lindbergh's own navigation method.
Why it matters
Few calibres in Longines' vintage catalogue are chased harder. Column wheel, flyback and a relatively limited production run together make it a reference piece for collectors of pre-war chronographs, in a market that is active and very well informed.
Watches that used it
- Longines chronographs of the 1930s and 40s
- Longines navigation and flyback watches