Longines spirit pilot flyback

abrod520
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YY77 YY77
What's your real life experience with it @abrod520?

I love it, and not only do I own one of these but I have had a Tudor Black Bay Chrono before as well. This one's way better.

The BB Chrono is an excellent watch that was a lot of fun to wear but the drawbacks are very clear. Most importantly, the BB Chrono does not have a rotating bezel, instead going for a 'budget Daytona' tachymetre. On a "dive" watch, come on... And then there are the screw down pushers. This is a matter of opinion but I personally like to time things off-the-cuff with my chronographs, and SDPs prevent that unless you leave them unscrewed (which looks crappy). And then finally, the way the hour hand blocks the chrono is a bit too much.

The Longines on the other hand is very similarly sized in its original guise, but mine's the titanium version so it's quite a lot lighter. It's a flyback of course, and coupled with the bi-directional rotating bezel it is for sure the most useful watch I own - I wear it nightly, to help time cooking dinner 馃榾

And yet this thread comes with interesting timing, as my Spirit Flyback has encountered a chrono issue where the hand seems to have come a bit loose and is contacting the hour hand. I dropped it off at the Longines Boutique last week and they quoted 12-18 weeks for service 馃檨 Even so, that's just the way things go sometimes, and thankfully mine's still under warranty.
 
spacemission
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abrod520 abrod520
I love it, and not only do I own one of these but I have had a Tudor Black Bay Chrono before as well. This one's way better.

The BB Chrono is an excellent watch that was a lot of fun to wear but the drawbacks are very clear. Most importantly, the BB Chrono does not have a rotating bezel, instead going for a 'budget Daytona' tachymetre. On a "dive" watch, come on... And then there are the screw down pushers. This is a matter of opinion but I personally like to time things off-the-cuff with my chronographs, and SDPs prevent that unless you leave them unscrewed (which looks crappy). And then finally, the way the hour hand blocks the chrono is a bit too much.

The Longines on the other hand is very similarly sized in its original guise, but mine's the titanium version so it's quite a lot lighter. It's a flyback of course, and coupled with the bi-directional rotating bezel it is for sure the most useful watch I own - I wear it nightly, to help time cooking dinner 馃榾

And yet this thread comes with interesting timing, as my Spirit Flyback has encountered a chrono issue where the hand seems to have come a bit loose and is contacting the hour hand. I dropped it off at the Longines Boutique last week and they quoted 12-18 weeks for service 馃檨 Even so, that's just the way things go sometimes, and thankfully mine's still under warranty.
Finally someone to discuss with.

I've seen some anti swatch group on the internet saying a lot of things that are wrong. In fact, I'm going to give this manual calibre a chance.

Thanks for your time and your point of view.
 
pdxleaf
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Longines is very attractive for price, quality, features and design. It's likely to attract a lot of first time chrono buyers.

The buyers of Tudor might be a different segment. A Tudor buyer seems to be already in the Rolex camp and pre-disposed to favoring Tudor. But it's hard to imagine that a new shopper wouldn't be tempted by the Longines seeing the two watches side by side.

Longines is a nice size. This watch is a bit thinner too. It might depend on a person's unique wrist, but the Longines is in a sweet spot size wise.

Cost is tough. Buying new, Longines is about 800 usd cheaper. But my watch dealer friends say Tudor is one of the top traded in watches. People love to buy them but not hold them. So comparing these used might negate the Longines price advantage.

It's hard to argue that a rotating bezel isn't a nicer feature.

Manual versus automatic make a difference?
Tudor has deeper WR but who really cares after 10bar?

I think if you like Tudor as a brand, you won't be tempted by Longines. But if you're not already a Tudor fan, Longines might be a strong contender.

Me, I have tried and tried to like Tudor, but I can't get over those annoying so-called snowflake hands, (which are just wierd blocks stuck on the end of the hands.) Also dislike the screw down pushers, both for function and appearance. Personally, I like the Pelagos much more than the BB, but again, those hands.

Bottom line, when it comes to chronographs, it's got to be a Speedmaster. Longines is a nice choice for smaller wrists and a tighter budget.

One person's opinion.

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abrod520
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
comparing these used might negate the Longines price advantage.
I think Longines might have an even greater advantage. Used a BB Chrono is what, 3500 or so these days. I don't want to say what I paid for my Spirit Flyback secondhand, but it was cheap
 
abrod520
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spacemission spacemission
I'm going to give this manual calibre a chance
Let us know how it goes - the 39.5 is definitely appropriately thin with the manual calibre, but I've got large wrists and so I'm quite happy with my titanium 42 even though it's very thick. Not incomparable to an IWC Pilot Chrono though IMO.
 
spacemission
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abrod520 abrod520
Let us know how it goes - the 39.5 is definitely appropriately thin with the manual calibre, but I've got large wrists and so I'm quite happy with my titanium 42 even though it's very thick. Not incomparable to an IWC Pilot Chrono though IMO.
Sure. I'm in contact with an official retailer.
 
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