Swiss aluminium steel navigation watch with power reserve Circa 1939

Navigation watch with double split seconds
–
An unusual ‘Aero’ Marine Nationale Aéronautique Navale navigation watch with double split seconds, made by Compagnie des Montres Longines Francillon S.A. in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, circa 1939. The numbered open faced case of this watch was crafted from stainless steel and aluminium and has a screwed back lid. The numbered silvered dial features a power reserve indicator, three central seconds hands two of which with split seconds and is marked Aero – N. The numbered movement features a high end precision lever escapement.
The dial and movement are signed.
–
Diameter: 94 mm
–
Weight: 545 g
–
Signed: Longines, Fab Suisse
–
Siderograph
A siderograph is a combination of watch and navigation instrument and keeps a reference time corresponding to the time at 0° Greenwich longitude. This precision instrument was stored in a wooden box, which centrally contained an aluminium plate with five springs that holds the measuring instrument in a suspended position. The holes for attaching the springs are located on the bottom of the case. The Longines siderograph was originally developed in 1938 to help with aircraft navigation. The instrument measures Greenwich sidereal and local time in hour angles, minutes and angular minutes. Its accuracy and precision made the siderograph the measure of all things in marine chronometry. It allowed the navigator to operate at night in the same way as during the day, far surpassing the systems of Weems and Lindbergh, as both depended on the time signals. The siderographs were equipped with the 2129 chronometer caliber, which was the most precise movement Longines possessed at the time. In addition, a split seconds and an anti magnetic beryllium lever were integrated and the movement was fitted into a hardened aluminium case. This material was perfectly suitable for aeronautical and maritime purposes due to its weight and non iron character. Versions were available with one and (extremely rare) as here with two split seconds.