Few brands have as rich a history in adventure and exploration as Longines. Its timepieces have crossed continents on the wrist of Amelia Earhart as she became the first woman to fly solo non-stop over the Atlantic in 1932. They have tackled the challenging terrain of the Greenland ice cap as Paul-Emile Victor completed his groundbreaking polar expedition in 1936, helping him calculate longitude. Pioneering aviator Elinor Smith set a new world altitude record for women in 1932, soaring to an incredible 32,576 feet accompanied by her trusted Longines watch. And Longines timed eccentric adventurer Howard Hughes’s round-the-world flight record in 1938, while the crew in his aircraft relied on the watchmaker’s chronometers.

A new collection, the Longines Spirit, pays tribute to these daring and courageous characters, taking traditional features from its pilots’ watches of the era and bringing them into the modern day. Heritage-inspired touches include the oversized crown, flange, vintage font and large luminous baton hands, originally designed to increase the legibility and ease of use of these highly functional timepieces, here carefully reworked with a contemporary eye.

Perhaps the most up-to-date feature of the collection is the state-of-the-art movements. The watches come equipped with self-winding calibres fitted with silicon hairsprings, guaranteeing the highest levels of accuracy, backed up by being chronometer-certified by the COSC, considered the gold standard of timekeeping testing. They also feature a number of other advanced features ensuring the precision and reliability of the timepieces, including domed sapphire glass with multi-layered anti-reflective coating on both sides, a screw-down crown and engraved case back safely secured with six screws.

The Spirit collection is expressed in two models: an understated three-hander with calendar at 3 o’clock, available in 40mm and 42mm case diameters, and a 42mm chronograph. They come in a choice of matte black, grained silver or blue sunray dial, each stamped with five applied stars denoting the quality of the movements.

From £1,650; longines.com