LONGINES 13ZN STEEL
Fine and rare stainless steel manual-winding flyback chronograph wristwatch with 2 registers.
Longines is one of the oldest manufacture in operation.
In 1832, Auguste Agassiz founded his brand in St Imier, in the canton of Neuchatel.
He settled on the banks of the river Suze in 1866, on a piece of land called “Les Longines” or “Les Longues Prairies”.
Its symbol, a winged hourglass, is world-renowned. The manufacture has a dual activity, watchmaking sports watches and timekeepers.
Auguste Agassiz has health problems and is looking for a successor. His nephew, Ernest Francillon takes over the family business in 1854.
From 1879, Francillon is interested in the manufacture of chronographs and offers internationally recognized calibres such as the 13.33Z in 1910, the 13ZN in 1936, and finally the 30 CH in 1947.
It was in 1936 that Longines filed a patent for the development of a calibre, the 13ZN.
This is a column-wheel chronograph movement with a minute register. It is the very first wrist chronograph with a flyback function. The flyback function allows resetting to zero while the chronograph is running, which is very useful for air navigation. From then, it is possible to perform another timing without having to stop, reset and restart the chronograph.
The model presented here is a 13ZN chronograph from 1939.
It is a stainless steel round case of 34 mm in diameter, with a snapped case back and rectangular push-buttons. Two-tone silver dial with 2 registers: minute totalizer at 3 and permanent seconds at 9. Tachymetric scale. Manual-winding mechanical movement, with column-wheel chronograph mechanism and flyback function, the famous 13ZN caliber.
Here is a chic and elegant watch with a sporty connotation. A fine example of the heritage and know-how of one of the oldest watchmaking manufacture.
