Longines was delighted to be the official sponsor of the Charles Lindbergh 80th Anniversary New York to Paris Celebration at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, New York. Hundreds flocked to the Cradle of Aviation Museum to see a moment in history remembered. Together Longines and the Cradle of Aviation Museum transformed the four-story glass atrium into a Lindbergh extravaganza. With the Spirit of St. Louis lowered for all to see, museum guests stepped into mock cock-pits, flew flight simulators and traced the distance of Charles Lindbergh’s flight.


1927: Lindbergh Flies Across the Atlantic

Special guest Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh, welcomed press and museum guests during the weekend long event as they remembered this historical moment. Longines and Cradle of Aviation Museum hosted a press conference with Erik Lindbergh who addressed several local area middle school students. Erik shared his personal experiences as an aviator and how his grandfather influenced his career. Longines presented Erik with the Hour Angle Watch, designed by Charles Lindbergh himself, as a gift of appreciation.


Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh

Longines and Cradle of Aviation also hosted a family day of interactive children games, performers, movies and food. Museum guests’ travelled through time as Longines took them on a trip through the history of Longines and Lindbergh’s flight with exhilarating games. More than 200 guests stepped out for The Golden Age of Flight dinner. With timeless taste Longines decorated more than 200 exquisite place settings with elegant Lindbergh Hour Angle Time raffle cards. Fully clad in the Roaring Twenties theme guest dined and danced to the big band into the wee hours of the morning. As the evening came to a close, one lucky dinner guest was announced as the Lindbergh Hour Angle Time raffle winner and was gifted with a Longines DolceVita.

In this, its 175th anniversary year, Longines has the pleasure of commemorating also the 80 year anniversary of the solo non stop flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris by Charles Lindbergh in 33 hours and 30 minutes by creating a limited edition – 80 numbered pieces – of the Lindbergh Hour Angle Watch in 18ct gold.

During the course of its history, Longines has accompanied many great pioneers. Longines was the Official Timekeeper of Lindbergh’s extraordinary achievement, which created a new world record for distance, flying a RYAN NYP named the Spirit of St Louis.

“With a Bellanca and plenty of fuel, I could fly all night, like the moon”
Charles Lindbergh, 1926

On May 20, 1927 at 7:52 a.m., Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island for Paris, carrying sandwiches, water, maps and charts, and a limited number of other items he deemed absolutely necessary. On May 21, 33 1/2 hours later, (10:22 p.m. French time) Lindbergh set the Spirit of St. Louis down at Le Bourget Field near Paris. He had flown 3,600 miles and became the first to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. Instantly he became an international celebrity and world-renowned symbol of aviation.

Upon his return to the US, Lindbergh drew up plans for a special pilot’s watch, which he confided to the Longines Company. Longines watchmakers immediately went to work turning a brilliant idea into a dependable and practical instrument watch. Some months later, the first working model of Lindbergh’s brainchild was put through its paces. After a few refinements, even Lindbergh himself was satisfied by its performances.



The design was thus pronounced serviceable and airworthy by its own inventor. The watch enjoyed a long and successful career on the wrist of airmen everywhere.

This watch was produced again in 2006 in its original 47.5 mm diameter size in steel, this time with a state-of-the-art self-winding movement. In commemoration of this year’s 80th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s exploit the same watch has been enhanced in 18 carat gold and is limited to 80 numbered pieces.

Longines had a major share in the conquest of the skies. Early in 1930s Longines was one of the first watchmakers to develop and manufacture chronograph wristwatches for pilots flying long distances, pioneering aviators and explorers. Charles A. Lindbergh and Richard Byrd and Ronald Amundsen were just some of early aviation’s legendary heroes and heroines who relied on watches from Saint-Imier when they were undertaking their record-breaking flights. Now the sophisticated navigational watches Longines made for aviators have become legendary in their turn.


Source: Longines

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