The Longines Majetek Pilot Watch Balances Utility With Pedigree
Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire's weekly column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world.
Longines has long been associated with aviation and its pioneers. The 190-year-old brand was particularly busy in the 1930s, making the aviation watches worn by both Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. In the middle of that decade, the house also created a new pilot’s watch expressly for the Czech Air Force, a watch that is known—in company lore—as the Majetek.
The name Majetek comes from the inscription engraved on the case backs of the original watches that read “majetek vojenske spravy” which roughly translated from Czech means “property of the military” to remind wearers that the watches were to be returned. Majetek basically means “property,” and though nonsensical in itself it stuck, no doubt, as a convenient in-house shorthand for these simple tool watches.
Last week, Longines released a brand new version of the Majetek with all the functional demeanor—and aesthetic appeal—of the 1935 original. The case has been enlarged from 40mm to 43mm, which in its robust cushion shape gives it some serious presence on the wrist. And the fluted bezel rotates to allow a lumed marker beneath the sapphire crystal to be positioned at any point above the dial. This was probably the most useful function of early pilot watches because, in conjunction with the minute hand, it made the watch a simple yet supremely easy navigational tool. By setting the marker a set number of minutes ahead of the minute hand itself, pilots had an easy way to ensure they were flying at the right bearing for the right amount of time before changing course (and resetting the marker for the next navigational shift).
Pilot Majetek
longines.com
$3750.00
On the display itself, creamy Super Luminova numerals and hand insets give a subtle vintage air against the jet-black dial, while the sub-seconds at 6 o’clock and military rail track ring on the outer edge further underline the standard-issue origins. Equipped with an in-house automatic movement with a 72-hour power reserve, the watch is also a chronometer, which means it was tested by the external COSC body (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres), which holds watch movements to even more rigorous standards of accuracy than their manufacture.
The watch is available on brown or black calf leather straps or, for a wee bit more, with a limited-edition presentation box and a NATO strap. Starting at $3,750, it’s a little more than entry-level Longines, but you do get a chronometer for your pains. Plus, for a brand that always punches above its weight in terms of quality and value, it’s very a solid investment.
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