Longines. A fine and rare oversized stainless steel aviator's wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and Weems second setting system
Longines. A fine and rare oversized stainless steel aviator's wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and Weems second setting system

SIGNED LONGINES, RETAILED BY WITTNAUER, MOVEMENT NO. 5942315, CASE NOS. 21123 AND 15, CIRCA 1938

細節
Longines. A fine and rare oversized stainless steel aviator's wristwatch with sweep centre seconds and Weems second setting system
Signed Longines, retailed by Wittnauer, movement no. 5942315, case nos. 21123 and 15, circa 1938
With nickel-finished lever movement, 15 jewels, hinged stainless steel cuvette, the dial with Breguet numerals on white enamel chapter ring, centred by a silvered matt disc calibrated for the seconds, rotated to adjust by turning the eccentric crown in the band, blued steel moon-style hands, sweep centre seconds, in large circular case with hinged back, oversized ball-shaped crown, downturned lugs, case and movement signed by maker, dial signed by maker and retailer
47 mm. diam.
來源
The Mel and Noel Blanc Collection, Christie's New York 29 October 1997, lot 239.

拍品專文

Accompanied by a spare stainless steel bezel and brown cardboard box.

The precise measurement of time has been vital to the progress of navigation throughout history. With the 1930s started a period of revolutionary changes in navigation and foremost among those responsible for some of the improvements was Captain Philip Van Horn Weems, U.S. Navy, who also trained the famous aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.

One of Weems' inventions was the Second Setting Watch, designed to help aviators plot their courses more accurately. At sea, celestial sights had to be taken with the help of a hack watch, which was set to the ship's chronometer. It was difficult, however, to set the watch exactly, meaning that it differed slightly from the chronometer, which in turn differed from Greenwich Mean Time.

Weems deducted that the difficulty in setting the watch came from the fact that, at the time, it was almost impossible to set the second hand exactly. However, as the second hand could not be set to match the dial perfectly, the solution was to make the dial movable, so that the dial and the second hand could be synchronized at the right time.

Another characteristic of the "Weems" watch is its large ball-sized winding crown, allowing a pilot to rewind the movement while wearing gloves.