Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

1931 - 1940

• Reverso
• Angle Horaire
• Calatrava
• Portuguese
• Radiomir

Angle Horaire

Longines - Angle Horaire (1931)

That the Longines Hour Angle watch should also bear the Lindbergh name is not, as one may imagine, because the celebrated pilot wore one on his historic first solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927. The connection is more subtle, and as such more interesting. Official timer for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the organisation which certified the American pilot's exploit of a 33-hour and 39-minute crossing from New York to Le Bourget, was John Heinmuller, himself a pilot and chairman of Longines Wittnauer Watch Co in New York. Lindbergh spoke with him of the problem of establishing the plane's bearings during flight, and put forward the idea of a watch which, as well as the time, gave the hour angle in degrees and minutes of arc for calculating longitude. Lindbergh even made some sketches of what he was convinced would be a valuable aid to pilots on transatlantic flights. His message was received loud and clear in Switzerland, and in October 1931 a patent was filed in Bern for the Longines Hour Angle with rotating bezel. A second and improved version followed in 1938. Manufactured in limited quantities, this bona fide navigating instrument was greatly appreciated until the advent of quartz. Since then it has given rise to commemorative limited editions and replicas of the original, at first slightly smaller then identically sized, and of course always with the same functions.