Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch in Stainless Steel
This stainless steel version of the Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch was introduced in 2007.
Swiss watch brand Longines has accompanied aviation pioneers during their greatest exploits. In associating its name with those of men and women who have dared the impossible, Longines proves its attachment to the exceptional and to excellence. Before Lindbergh and his Hour Angle Watch came captain Philip van Horn Weems, who developed the ingenious “Weems System of Navigation”.
In 2007, Longines commemorated this fundamental invention and paid homage to its creator by presenting The Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch, a mechanical watch fitted with a rotating center dial.
Human qualities were of course essential to achieving their feat, but technical fundamentals were equally vital. With full knowledge of the undertaking, Longines established a fruitful collaboration with Captain Philip van Horn Weems.
During the 1920s and 1930s, this officer of the US Navy dedicated himself to research on behalf not only of the navy but also of the airforce. In 1927 – the year Lindbergh undertook his solo flight from New York to Paris – he developed the “Weems System of Navigation”.
Celebrating the 80th anniversary of this invention, the Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch launched in 2007 pays homage to the American captain.
It was in 1929, in liaison with Longines, that P.v.H. Weems registered the patent for a watch able to complement the bulky on-board chronometers.
The invention made it possible to synchronise the watch to the second using the radio time signal without adjusting the hands, using the exterior bezel or center dial, both of rotating and with minute tracks. The idea was picked up by Charles A. Lindbergh, who was a pupil of Weems, who used it as an additional feature in his own Hour Angle Watch. This patent was registered in 1935.
Ever since that time, Longines has adapted a time correction feature using rotating dials on some of its watches equipped with a central second hand.
Fitted with a self-winding mechanical movement, it offers a power reserve of 46 hours. The round stainless steel case, of a diameter of 47.50 mm, is fitted with an engraved and numbered back cover which can be lifted to reveal a transparent sapphire plate through which the movement’s operation can be observed.
The opaline silvered center dial enables the synchronisation to the second via a radio time signal.
The Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch is available with a genuine brown alligator strap with “Charleston” clasp and extension.
Technical details
Model: Longines Weems Second-Setting Watch in stainless steel
Reference number L2.713.4.13.0-2 Men’s model
Movement
Self-winding mechanical movement L699 (ETA A07 111)
16½ lines, 24 jewels, 28,800 vibrations per hour
Power reserve of 46 hours
Functions
Hours, minutes and seconds
Rotating central dial for synchronisation to the second with a radio time signal
Case
Round, in polished stainless steel, Ø 47.50 mm
Engraved case back, opening to reveal sapphire plate
Crown:”Louis XV” style
Water resistance To 30 meters (~ 100 feet)
Crystal Sapphire crystal
Dial
White lacquer
Black painted external double minute track
12 black painted Arabic numerals
Opaline silvered rotating center dial
Black painted double minute track
Hands: Blued steel, ”Breguet” style
Strap
Genuine brown alligator with “Charleston” clasp and extension
