On May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis lifted off from Roosevelt Field, New York, bound for Paris. After 33½ hours alone over 5,850 kilometers of open ocean, he landed at Le Bourget, achieving the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight. Longines, already a trusted name in precision instruments, timed every second. Yet the journey revealed a critical challenge of early aviation. Pilots could measure hours and minutes with precision, but determining longitude accurately across vast, featureless skies remained perilously difficult - a problem with potentially fatal consequences.

Drawing on this need, Lindbergh sketched an idea for a wristwatch that could help pilots determine their position using celestial navigation. Teaming up with Longines and navigation pioneer Philip Van Horn Weems, he turned concept into reality: the Hour Angle Watch. With its boldly oversized 47.5 mm case, rotating bezel engraved in degrees, and large crown designed to be used with gloves, it was a revolutionary cockpit tool. The watch allowed pilots to speed up longitude calculations, integrating functionality decades ahead of modern dive watches.

Recognizing that this breakthrough combined both technical ingenuity and distinctive industrial design, Longines registered the Hour Angle Watch in 1931 as an international deposit under the Hague Agreement with the Bureau International pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle, the institution that would later become the World Intellectual Property Organization and runs today the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This international deposit enabled Longines to secure design protection beyond national borders through a single, centralized procedure, a strategic advantage that preserved the exclusivity of the watch at a time when aviation instruments were expanding quickly across international markets. Today, this iconic timepiece is featured in the commemorative book “A Century of Design Registration 1925–2025”, celebrating 100 years of the Hague System.

As Daniel Hug, Head of Brand Heritage at Longines, reflects: “Protecting our inventions and designs is not an afterthought; it’s part of how we preserve our identity and continue to innovate.” He adds: “The Hague System allows us to translate creativity into long-term value by ensuring our designs are recognized and protected internationally, from their first sketch to their commercial life.”

Historic watches with authentic design

A Legacy of Precision, Innovation and Design Protection

Longines’ commitment to purposeful design and protection began long before powered flight. Founded in 1832 in Saint-Imier, a village nestled in Switzerland’s Jura mountains, the brand emerged from a landscape defined by rigor, precision and understated beauty. Under the leadership of Ernest Francillon, family watchmaking expertise was unified into a single vision: creating instruments rooted in clarity, durability and function.

Francillon’s pioneering spirit extended beyond mechanics. He understood early that innovation without protection was vulnerable. Longines watches were among the first to systematically bear a serial number, the registered name LONGINES and the winged hourglass logo, visible guarantees of origin, quality and authenticity. When Swiss trademark law was introduced in 1880, Francillon promptly registered the brand. By 1889, he had submitted the trademark to the Swiss Federal Office of Intellectual Property and extended its protection internationally through institutions that would later evolve into WIPO. Today, the winged hourglass remains the oldest valid trademark in the WIPO International Registry, a rare distinction that reflects Longines’ long-standing commitment to safeguarding design identity.

This dual focus on innovation and protection accompanied the brand through some of the defining moments of modern history. Longines timed Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight in 1927, equipped the airplane of US pilots Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon with a double-timezone cockpit clock for their historic first nonstop Pacific crossing in 1931, and created the world’s thinnest watch in 1979 at just 1.98 mm. From quartz innovations such as the Very High Precision (VHP) movement to the elegant Art Deco–inspired designs of the 1920s and 30s, Longines has consistently blended technical mastery with aesthetic refinement, while remaining faithful to an enduring design philosophy.

This proactive approach continues today. Longines systematically protects its patents, trademarks, and industrial designs through WIPO channels, ensuring that every creation, from historic pilot’s watches to contemporary Heritage models, retains its authenticity and integrity over time.

Mechanical watches with timeless and functional design

Longevity is central to Longines’ design philosophy. With mechanical timepieces averaging a lifespan of 100 years, every design decision must balance clarity, durability and timelessness. “Our designs are functional and timeless”, says Hug. “We don’t chase fashion trends. We want watches that remain meaningful, even a century from now.”

That philosophy is inseparable from place. Saint-Imier’s rugged geography and disciplined watchmaking culture shaped Longines’ visual identity, one defined by symmetry, legibility and purposeful form. These principles are visible across generations of watches, from the Conquest (1954) and the Legend Diver (1959) to modern interpretations such as the Spirit collection. The result is a design language that is minimal yet expressive, practical yet refined.

Visual cues are never decorative alone. A sculpted bezel that can be operated by touch, bold luminous markers legible in low light, or a clean, uncluttered dial are all expressions of a design philosophy where form and function are inseparable.

Innovation, in this context, is always purposeful. The Hour Angle Watch exemplifies this ethos: its rotating bezel calibrated in degrees and oversized crown were not only technical novelties, but also practical tools that helped pilots navigate by stars and sextants. Decades ahead of its time, it transformed a complex calculation into a manageable task.

Today, Longines continues to innovate with the same clarity of intent. Advances such as silicon balance springs improve accuracy and resistance to magnetism, while collaborations with research institutions explore new materials and technologies. Each innovation responds to contemporary needs while respecting the mechanical heritage that defines the brand.

Iconic Longines aviator watches

Because Longines designs instruments rather than accessories, its watches have naturally accompanied individuals operating at the limits of possibility. Beyond Lindbergh, female aviators such as Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson, American aviators Howard Hughes and Wiley Post, and European pioneers Dieudonné Costes and Joseph Le Brix all relied on Longines instruments during record-breaking flights across continents and oceans. These collaborations were not endorsements, but functional partnerships rooted in real-world challenges.

Few models illustrate this more clearly than the Longines Majetek. In 1935, the Czechoslovak Air Force commissioned a pilot’s watch capable of measuring critical moments during flight. The resulting design featured a rotating bezel with a luminous triangle (the “Starting Time Indicator”) allowing pilots to mark departure times or track elapsed intervals. Engraved with Majetek Vojenské Správy (“Property of the Military Administration”), it became standard issue, with roughly 1,700 watches in circulation by World War II.

Its curved cushion case, functional bezel and highly legible dial made the Majetek both a professional instrument and a symbol of aviation precision. Longines has since revived the model using modern materials such as Grade 5 titanium and chronometer-certified movements, preserving its original design intent while adapting it to contemporary standards.

Longines knows that watches are more than instruments; they are stories in motion. From the Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch to the Majetek, each creation carries the tale of human achievement and heroism. By sharing these narratives, Longines markets its heritage as vividly as its timepieces, showing that it sells stories as much as objects.

A Century of International Design Protection for Longines Timepieces

From the deck of the Spirit of St. Louis to the wrists of today’s pilots and explorers, Longines’ designs tell stories that extend far beyond timekeeping. The Hague System plays a central role in ensuring these stories remain authentically Longines, providing a framework that secures the brand’s distinctive designs as they move across borders and generations. Through a single international registration, Longines can bring its creations to global markets with confidence, knowing their integrity is protected.

For a brand with a global footprint and exceptionally long product lifecycles, this protection is essential. Watches conceived today may remain in production – or be thoughtfully reissued – decades later. The Hague System supports this continuity by offering consistent design protection across multiple jurisdictions, while streamlining administrative processes. This efficiency allows Longines to concentrate its resources on innovation, craftsmanship and heritage, rather than on managing fragmented national filings or enforcement efforts.

As Hug notes: “Our watches are designed to last. The Hague System helps ensure that the design choices we make today remain protected tomorrow, wherever our watches travel.”

Source: https://www.wipo.int//en/web/ip-advantage/w/stories/longines-pilot-watches-design-in-flight-and-beyond