The movement of the Longines Avigation Type A-7 is one of the watch’s biggest strengths. In a word, single-button, column-wheel chronographs are awesome. Awesome in design, and awesome to operate. They also tend to make an important statement about their owner. At the very least, they reveal an interest in the earliest type of chronograph movement. Longines has been backing an affordable and production-friendly version since 2012 and the release of the first modern Type A7.
The movement is produced exclusively by ETA – the developers call it the A08.261 – and it is an automatic movement with a balance running at 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 54 hours. The chronograph times events up to 30 minutes and the start, stop, reset button operates smoothly, with a distinct “click” at the end of each press. This movement powers several other watches in the Heritage collection too. In this particular Longines Avigation Type A-7 model, it isn’t visible, and that’s a good thing if historical accuracy is what you’re after. A sapphire case back would have seriously dented its credibility as a vintage-inspired timepiece. Instead, it is protected by a solid stainless steel case back featuring the belly of a fighter plane obstructing the sun.
