Review Longines Avigation BigEye Chronograph Black Dial 41 MM Steel Watch Replica

Review Longines Avigation BigEye Chronograph Black Dial 41 MM Steel Watch Replica

The Longines Avigation BigEye Chronograph Black Dial 41 MM Steel watch replica L2.816.4.53.2 is a vintage military-style watch inspired by chronographs of the 1930s, combining aviation history with modern watchmaking techniques and featuring a column-wheel movement made exclusively for Longines. 

The Dial

Why is this chronograph named “BigEye”? You can see the reason staring at you when you look at the dial: a large counter at 3 o’clock on the Longines Avigation BigEye replica tallies the elapsed minutes. It also helps you time your 5-minute boiled egg for breakfast. But heads up! The long index strokes mark every third minute and not, as is more common, every fifth minute. So when the hand reaches the first stroke, your egg is still almost raw, and when it reaches the second stroke, that same egg is already hard-boiled. The gradual creeping motion of the arrow-shaped elapsed-minute hand is unusual also. You’ll need to look closely if you want to read elapsed intervals precisely, but the scales are neatly printed and easy to read. The subdial at 6 o’clock counts 12 elapsed hours. The hand above this disk also advances continuously over the subdivisions, where Arabic numerals with square dots mark the full hours, and slender white strokes show the half hours.

The matte black dial is reminiscent of the early years of aviation and is easy to read thanks to its bold contrasts. And despite the presence of three subdials, the time display remains dominant: a pair of straight and well-proportioned hands sweep past Arabic numerals, all nine of which glow brightly in the dark. A few of the hour numerals are either entirely absent or slightly truncated to make room for the subdials, a minor blemish already seen on historical chronographs, but the time is visible day or night.

The Case

The imation Longines Avigation BigEye watch comes in a 41mm steel case that at first glance might strike you as simple. However, there are subtle polished elements that catch your eye and hold your attention. Longines has applied a nice brushed finish to most of the surfaces on the case, with the exception of the thin steel bezel that is polished to a mirror finish. This element, I think, catches the light in really unexpected ways giving the watch a sort of “rough-jewel-like” quality.

The BigEye replica measures in at a nice 48.5mm lug to lug. This paired with the case size fits my 7.25” wrist very well. The lugs themselves are pretty thick and beefy, dropping downward dramatically from the case. Being an automatic chronograph, there’s an expected thickness present at about 14.3mm including the domed sapphire. The replica watch wears trimly for that size, however, and I haven’t found it overly prone to jumping out and grabbing doorjambs and the like.

The oversized crown and pushers are some of my favorite elements of the watch. Big and nearly exaggerated, the signed crown measures in at approximately 7.5mm alone; and the pushers extend delicately from the case. It may be the overall right-hand weightiness of the watch itself or the focus on asymmetry, but I find the case and pusher/crown combo to be unbalanced. However, when you look at them, something clicks between the two.

The Strap

The provided Longines strap is a simple brown, full stitch leather strap with a signed buckle. It’s comfortable and effective, but largely unremarkable. The watch, however, is an absolute strap monster and looks great on most strap combinations. The Longines Avigation BigEye replica L2.816.4.53.2 is equally at home on leather as it would be on canvas or a NATO. Changing the strap will also change the “feel” of the watch dramatically. Going from the brown OEM strap to a nice shiny black strap would dress it up significantly, whereas going to a “Bond” NATO would make this look adventure-ready.

The Movement

One of the things that attracted me to the BigEye in the first place was that Longines chose to skip over the expected Valjoux chronograph movements and instead opted for the L688.2 Column-Wheel Chronograph movement. Developed by ETA under the moniker ETA A08.L01, this movement sports a 54-hour power reserve and beats at 28,800 bph. My experience with the movement thus far has been excellent. The L688.2 has kept excellent time, and the chronograph pushers have a pleasantly tactile click to their operation, with the hands responding very well.

Specs

Manufacturer:  Longines Watch Co. Francillon Ltd., Les Longines, 2610 Saint-Imier, Switzerland

Reference number: L2.816.4.53.2/4

Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph (central elapsed- seconds hand, counters for up to 30 elapsed minutes and 12 elapsed hours)

Movement: Caliber L688.2 based on ETA A08.L01, automatic, 28,800 vph, 27 jewels, Nivachoc shock absorption, gold-plated nickel balance, Nivarox hairspring, bipartite index fine regulation, 54-hour power reserve, diameter = 30.0 mm, height = 7.90 mm

Case: Stainless steel, curved sapphire crystal with several layers of anti-reflective coating above the dial, water resistant to 30 m

Strap and clasp: Leather strap with pin buckle

Rate results (Deviation in seconds per 24 hours):

When fully wound +4.2

With chronograph

switched on +4.9

After 24 hours +4.5

On the wrist +4.0

Dimensions: Diameter = 40.94 mm, height = 14.61 mm, weight = 102 g

Price: $2,625

Despite not being a chronograph expert, I have found the Longines BigEye replica to be one of my recent favorites from Longines, and not a bad one at that. More information, please visit our latest replica Longines watch listing, we are selling almost all model AAA grade 1 :1 cloned Longines watches.