Hands-On: the Longines Spirit Zulu Time Titanium

Longines, somehow, still feels slept on to me. In the hierarchy or Swatch Group brands, they sit in a place where they really should be insanely popular with enthusiasts and the mass market alike, but somehow they often feel like a brand struggling to break into the wider conversation. To be fair, I have no idea about the relative commercial success Longines has experienced over these last few years – it’s quite possible that everyone at Longines and Swatch are quite happy with their performance. Anecdotally, though, I just don’t see them on wrists very often, either at local neighborhood watch meetups, or in the wild.

And that’s kind of a shame, because whenever I actually spend time with a Longines watch, I come away feeling impressed. I’ve long held that they do vintage reissues better than just about anyone. Whoever has the job of raiding the archives and picking watches to resurface from the brand’s long history has impeccable taste, and an innate understanding of the watches that hit the center of the Venn Diagram covering “aesthetically interesting” and “historically important.” They’ve done a great job of telling the brand’s story with a string of excellent heritage releases. 

But Longines is too big, of course, to just release vintage inspired watches, so in a moment a few years back when it was clear that the heritage gravy train wasn’t going to run forever, they introduced the Spirit collection. An entirely new line, the Spirit watches bridged the gap between “vintage inspired” design notes and the contemporary sports watch. They are ostensibly aviation inspired, but work remarkably well as straightforward daily wear pieces. 

When the Spirit collection was introduced it felt like a big swing for Longines. Any entirely new collection from a brand with a history like Longines is, but the Spirit watches felt more ambitious because they were trading on their recent history of success with their heritage reissues to create a kind of hybrid: a watch that is imbued with the brand’s history but still feels fresh. And it was suddenly just here, that rarest of birds in the watch industry, a brand new collection, fully formed, that felt like it had real purpose out of the gate. 

The Spirit line has filled out quite nicely, providing a solid proving ground for Longines to launch sports watches in a number of categories. There are Spirits in steel and titanium, a flyback chronograph, and a range of sizes. The secret weapon, though, and the best watch in the collection in my humble opinion, is the Zulu Time, the Spirit collection’s take on the GMT. I mean, does your sports watch collection even exist in the 2020s if there isn’t a GMT? It’s a necessity. The latest Zulu Time, which I’ve had a chance to spend some time with recently, is the first titanium version of the watch in the permanent collection, following a well received stainless steel edition. (Hodinkee and Longines collaborated on the first titanium Zulu Time GMT last year, a limited edition release that immediately begged the question, “When will the non-LE edition drop?”)

The Spirit Zulu Time Titanium is, like its steel counterpart, 39mm in diameter and an easy to manage 13.5mm thick. That’s a case height measurement that might scare some off, but I have to say that it’s one of those numbers that surprised me when I double checked it after a period of wear. It wears very flat – the caseback sits flush to the midcase and wants to nestle close to the wrist – and much of the height is taken up by the crystal and bezel assembly. The watch is 100 meter water resistant, likely another reason for it wearing a bit thinner than the numbers would indicate. I suspect another 100 or 200 meters of protection would have resulted in at least a few extra millimeters added to the caseback and a taller wearing experience. 

The other factor working in the Zulu Time Ti’s favor in terms of wearing comfort is the very material it’s made from. Now, I’m not as fully invested in titanium as some of my colleagues here at Worn & Wound. For daily wear, I still prefer steel as I like a little heft and, all things being equal, I tend to prefer the sometimes ornate finishing that can be achieved on a steel surface. But when you’re actually wearing a feather-light sports watch like the Zulu Time Ti, it’s tough to argue the appeal of titanium – there’s a real “wow, how is this possible?” impact when you pick one of these things up, and it doesn’t really go away. A big part of that with the Zulu Time is the matching titanium bracelet, which I found to be quite comfortable. For its lightness, I’m happy to forgive the lack of on-the-fly micro adjustment on the clasp.

The drawback to titanium, and it’s present in this watch and most other titanium watches at this price point, is the aesthetic appeal. This of course is highly subjective, but the inherent tooliness of the darker gray material and a reliance on brushing and bead blasting surfaces as opposed to polishing them is just a lot less interesting to me. It’s counterintuitive, but for me the best titanium watches are the ones that fight against the nature of the material and are finished in a way more akin to stainless steel, or even a watch in a precious metal. Grand Seiko is the standard bearer here, and if you’ve ever owned or handled a titanium watch from that brand, you understand that this utilitarian material can also be quite beautiful. That’s something the titanium Zulu Time does not aspire to, so perhaps it’s an unfair criticism. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the casework on this watch – it has a nicely executed polished bevel running down each case flank – but there’s nothing extraordinary about it. 

I’ll point out here that many of the early press reactions to this watch specifically called out what was almost unanimously perceived as impressive finishing of the titanium case. So, maybe my expectations were a little higher than they should have been when I was finally able to get this watch in front of me. The case is, in my opinion, exactly fine. It didn’t blow me away, though, and I personally wouldn’t characterize the finishing as being comparable to other brands, like Grand Seiko mentioned above, that really go the extra mile with their titanium pieces. But like I said, it’s subjective, and the titanium version of this watch has other attributes that make the most of its material (the insanely light weight, naturally). I’d say if you were interested in this watch primarily as an example of well executed titanium case work, though, it would be worth seeking one out in person to take a look at before committing to a purchase. 

The dial will feel familiar to anyone who has come across other Spirit collection watches. It’s simple, matte anthracite, with clearly defined and well lumed Arabic numerals. Those numerals are applied and quite thick, and are my favorite little design detail on the entire watch. They offer a really appealing depth, especially when viewed from the side, as well as being incredibly practical and legible. The hour and minute hands are thin with polished gilt accents, and are complemented by a 24 hour hand with a red arrow tip. This hand is mostly black, though, which is a smart design choice as it lets it really disappear, letting the arrow “float” in many lighting conditions. The 6:00 date window is similarly unobtrusive. 

The movement is the Longines L844.4 caliber. It’s chronometer certified and the GMT functionality is of the local jumping hour variety, which in my estimation is an absolute must have on any GMT equipped watch.

A quick sidebar here, on “caller” versus “flyer” GMT functionality. There was a question recently submitted from our Worn & Wound+ Slack community for a Q&A podcast that asked what we’d eliminate from the watch industry with a snap of a finger. We didn’t answer that question on the pod, but I’ll answer it here: let’s hurl every caller GMT movement into the sun. Few things make less sense to me. These movements have been used in watches marketed as “travel” watches for years, but it’s hard to imagine a clunkier experience if you actually wind up traveling with one. And, I’m sorry, but I don’t buy the idea that anyone who would need to track a single far flung time zone from home would find that the best way to do that would be with these watches. We carry devices with us that you can ask in plain English (or the language of your choice) what time it is anywhere in the world, and get an immediate response without taking your eyes off the YouTube video you’re watching instead of being productive. This is an example of the watch community twisting itself into a pretzel to find a compelling use for something that is just not all that useful. I’m filled with joy everyday with the knowledge that watch brands large and small now have reliable access to true GMT movements, and that over time the “caller” will likely go extinct. 

OK, rant over. I appreciate your indulgence and certainly don’t mean to impune any specific watch or brand or collector that uses or is particularly fond of caller GMT movements. We all like what we like, and sometimes we dislike things all out of proportion too. In any event, to bring it back to the watch under discussion, the Zulu’s movement is incredibly well equipped for all of your travel needs, and even tracks a third time zone with its rotating 24 hour bezel (with a black ceramic insert), the action of which is quite satisfying. 

The Zulu Time in titanium is a very strong entry in the Spirit collection, and should certainly be considered by anyone, enthusiast or a more casual consumer, if they’re after a reliable, easy to wear, everyday sports watch with a truly useful complication. Longines, for a variety of reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, does not currently have the reach or enthusiast derived clout of a brand like Tudor, but I’d argue that if you’re looking for a GMT equipped sports watch, the Zulu Time (in either steel or titanium) should absolutely be cross shopped with similar offerings from Rolex’s sister brand, and a number of others. It’s a slightly different flavor, and perhaps to some will prove to be more interesting from a design standpoint as well. And in titanium, in particular, it offers a wearing experience that stands alone. Longines