Longines Spirit 37mm Review

Introduction:

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve was fortunate enough to pick this up. It’s been worn non-stop - except for golfing (spoiler: it’s useless for pin and hazard distances!). There’s additional photos in previous posts if you want to see more. As with most reviews, a lot of it is just my opinion, so take that into account if you are reading and are interested in the watch. If I’ve missed anything out - feel free to ask and I’ll endeavour to answer your questions.

Dial:
The star of the show, for me, are the indices. Applied Arabic indices with black PVD surrounds and generous amounts of ‘Swiss Super-LumiNova’ (bluish green) - Longines does not state the type on their website. A minute track with numerals at five minute intervals, runs along the perimeter of the dial. Interestingly, there’s a (lumed) cut-out between the hour indices and the minute track. It’s a nice quirk and also adds to the dial depth mentioned earlier. The minute track actually sits a little higher than the central dial and is separated via a tiny bevel. It’s a very fine detail which at first glance appears to be a printed line until you notice the light reflecting off the bevel. It’s very subtle and well done.

The indices give the dial real depth and are very legible despite the white on champagne coloured dial. The hour and minute hands also have the same lume. It is decent enough for a good few hours.

The seconds hand has a (lume filled) diamond-shaped tip - very reminiscent of a Tudor ‘snowflake’ hand, albeit a bit smaller. Unlike the blue and black dialled versions, it does not have a red tip. I think it would have added a subtle ‘pop’ of colour onto the dial and carried over the design language from the rest of the model line.  
 

Even though the five stars are meant to signify Longines’ commitment to quality on the watch, it also lends itself to the aviation aesthetic along with the winged hourglass of the company’s logo. 

The stars and logo are both high polished and applied. I was a little concerned that the dial may have seemed a little too crowded with the presence of the stars but they slightly fade into to the sunburst dial by having that level of polishing - I appreciate that particular design decision.
The champagne sunburst dial can appear as a cream or silver in low light but has a metallic, light golden hue in bright daylight. It has a more than passing resemblance to a Rolex Datejust/OP champagne dial colour. The colour removes some of the ‘tool’ aesthetic and adds a layer of dressiness to this particular variation. The matt black dial has that traditional Pilot’s watch theme running through it. The sunburst blue is firmly in the middle of the two. I would happily wear all three if I could.  A chamfered date window resides in place of the 6 o’clock index. It’s not colour matched to the dial (it’s white) but it does offer symmetry as the other indices are also white.

Text on the dial (other than those already mentioned) are: ‘Longines’ and ‘Automatic’ at 12 o’clock above and below the brand logo, respectively. ‘Chronometer’ at 6 o’clock below the stars and ‘Swiss Made’ on the minute track either side of the 30 second marker. It’s printed nicely without any blemishes.

Case:
Unlike most modern Longines watches, the lugs are not proportionately longer than than the case. The 37mm case is complemented with a 43mm lug to lug length. The use of male end links means that the lug to lug is 47mm. They are turned down so they aren’t as long the measurements suggest. I would have liked to have seen drilled lug holes especially on a Tool-style watch such as this. The case is 11.7mm thick. The crown extends the case diameter to 40.5mm and it has a diameter of 6.3mm. It is a push-pull crown, with manual winding in it’s natural ‘in’ position. Pulling it out one position will set the quick-date and all the way out will hack the seconds/set the time. 

The crown is not protected by any crown guards but does have a very purposeful ‘click’ into each position - it’s a very satisfying (and reassuring) motion. It’s on the (fractionally) small side but is very smooth to wind - just a hint of resistance in the winding action. It’s also signed ‘Longines’ and has another winged hourglass logo. A domed sapphire crystal gives nice clarity to the dial (I’ve read that both sides of the crystal has ‘multi-layered AR coating) - important considering the sunburst and low contrasting dial/indices/hands. Even though there’s a domed crystal, there’s very little distortion.  Reflections tend to have a blue tint to them and in certain lighting conditions, make the dial appear like a mother of pearl.  

The case on the whole is brushed with high polished accents on the bezel and a beautiful chamfer running top to bottom on the shoulder of the lugs. The accents add a lot of character to the case design and give the watch a more premium feel (if you own a Seiko SARB 033/035 - you’ll know exactly what I mean).

The caseback is a screw-in plate (held in by 6 screws) with a ‘winged hourglass on globe’ engraving - along with the reference, serial number (photoshopped out in the photo below), and water resistance details. It’s in keeping with the aviation theme as it’s all done in a ‘service issue’ style.

Bracelet:
For me, this is the weakest part of the package. Not because it isn’t comfortable (it definitely is) but it has a very ‘tinny’ quality to it. It really feels like they’re folded links - they feel very light and almost have no heft to them at all. It’s a 3-link brushed design. 
 

Where the 3 links meet each other, there’s a high polish chamfer on those edges. 

It attaches to the watch case via a 19mm solid, male endlink at each end. The links are connected via push pins. The bracelet features a ‘quick-change’ system with a release on the underside. It’s a very solid system and I have no concerns about it coming off accidentally. To the contrary in fact, you really have to push the release in just right for the springbars to retract and come away. The bracelet tapers from 19mm to 16mm at the clasp. 

The clasp itself, is a milled, two button deployant. It’s compact and is brushed except for a high polished edge on flanks - it’s not a clasp where you have to worry about the scratches showing up after a few weeks/months of wear. 

It’s signed “Longines” but they’ve opted for the modern style font as opposed to the retro font on the dial. It’s a design decision which lacks a little congruency, imo. 

Fit-wise, I don’t think anyone will struggle - there’s two removable ‘half-links’ (they’re actually a little bigger than a ‘half’) and five adjustment points on the clasp. There’s no on-the-fly adjustment. As with all 19mm lug widths, it’s a little annoying but I do feel a 20mm width would make the endlinks more noticeable in their protrusion and at 18mm, the elegance of the bracelet taper would be negated - this is obviously just conjecture on my part.

Functionality:
Despite the push-pull crown and screw-in back plate, the watch is rated to 100mm water resistant which is fine for most things like, hand washing and rain. I’ve not put the watch on a timegrapher but it should be fine - the combination of chronometer rating and 5-year warranty should ease any manufacturer defect concerns. Inside, the movement has a silicon balance and has a stated power reserve of 72 hours, according to Longines. I don’t have any issue with the tick of the 25,200 frequency - it’s fine to my eyes.
I’ve had people mention that the case feels ‘heavy’ - I don’t feel it personally but everyone who has held it has agreed that the bracelet feels very light in relation to the case. It feels ever so slightly ‘top heavy’ but it’s certainly not a dealbreaker.  If anyone has concerns about legibility, due to the dial finish and hand/indices colour - I can honestly say that you have nothing to worry about. It’s very clear in all lighting scenarios.

Conclusion:
I would recommend this watch to anyone who wants something similar to a Rolex OP/Datejust, Tudor Black Bay 36, Sinn 556 or IWC Pilot 36. The black/blue dial versions are also very nice looking tool watch alternatives for anyone after that particular aesthetic. Personally I think it’s a great everyday piece, which can satisfy the want/need for a dress/sports/tool combo watch. Depending on the dial, it doesn’t really matter what you wear with it either - suits, shorts, jeans, t-shirts, jumpers. For a tool watch, it has more subtle style/design elements the longer you look at it (like the dial depth and high polished edges). It would be easy for a manufacturer such as Longines (with their long history), to sit back and continue do (fantastic) re-issues from their exhaustive archive but they’ve done a great job with this modern line of ‘Spirit’ watches with just a hint of ‘retro’. At a price of under £2000, it was just too good to pass up for me.