For all Switzerland’s bragging rights in horology, it’s ironic that London, not Geneva, is regarded as the centre of time – because to paraphrase Bert from Mary Poppins, ‘The whole world takes its time from Greenwich’. What the chirpy cockney sweep was referring to, of course, is GMT – Greenwich Mean Time – the symbolic zero hour of time, demarcated by the Meridian Line at the famed observatory from which the world’s hours are clocked. This timely starting point has particular significance for explorers and navigators, who have lived by GMT’s guiding hand in their record-breaking pursuits.

Many Swiss watchmakers can claim an adventurous lineage, but for feats of the high-altitude kind, Longines is a formation leader, having kitted out some of history’s most festooned flying aces, from Amy Johnson to Charles Lindbergh. And now it’s reasserting its stake in the skies with the Spirit Zulu Time.

This multi-time GMT model is an homage to the 1925 Zulu Time – Longines’ first wristwatch to display a second time zone, which is linked to the concept of GMT. “Zulu” is the code word for “Z” in the ICAO phonetic alphabet – the standard in air navigation communications – and denotes the zero hour of GMT (now called UTC) in military time.

Instead of an archival carbon copy, the new design reflects 21st-century tastes with a circular steel case and sleek baton indicators, while a ceramic bezel can be used to track a third time zone.

There’s a trio of dial colours: matt black, sandblasted anthracite and sunray blue and its well-proportioned 42mm steel case and 6 o’clock date window provide a pleasing balance in wrist presence and symmetry. The attention to detail isn’t just superficial, either – the straps, which come in easy-change iterations of stainless steel or brown, beige or blue leather, have an incremental adjustment system to achieve a bespoke fit, ensuring comfort in the long haul.

A new in-house developed GMT movement with a magnetic and temperature-resistant silicon balance spring allows the hour hand to be adjusted independently of the GMT pointer. In a coup for punctuality purists, it’s also certified by COSC – the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute – and the 72-hour power reserve means you’ll still find it ticking after a long weekend off the wrist.

Taking its mechanics in-house harks back to the brand’s pre-quartz crisis zenith, when rival maisons sought Longines’ self-made movements for their accuracy. This precision was denoted by a five-star stamp of approval on its dials – a detail seen on the new Spirit Zulu Time. In 1931, this reputation was cemented on the wing during Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon’s transpacific crossing, when they ‘encountered such frigid Arctic weather as to even freeze the water in our canteens [but our] Longines watches continued to keep absolutely accurate time’. What else would you expect from a brand with a winged hourglass as its logo?

From £2,400; longines.com