Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle Ref. 4365 ca.1945

On offer here is a significant piece of aviation history. Perhaps better put: navigation history. A true collector’s item in amazing condition.

The story of this watch has its roots in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh was the first to solo-fly over the Atlantic ocean. Nowadays, we are all used to having pin-point precision GPS navigation systems in our back pockets. Back in the early twentieth century, figuring out where you were and where you were heading was a darn tough challenge.

Traditionally, a method called dead-reckoning was used. This was a matter of plotting your course on a map, based on your speed, heading (read off of a compass) and time. A simple method that works quite well, until you are lost. It offers no way of finding your bearings if you do not already know where you are. To this end, positioning based on celestial bodies (such as the sun or other stars) was used. This was, however, a very complicated and time-consuming process.

Lindbergh (after his historic flight) asked Longines for a watch that would help make the complicated calculations involved. Longines complied and together they came up with the Lindbergh Hour Angle. For the real die-hards: a quick google search will yield detailed explanations on how to navigate with a watch like this, but it is a bit too complicated for us to get into here.

The resulting watch is impressive in every way. From the statuesque size down to the bright white porcelain dial. This is one of those grails that keep collectors awake…