154 Longines Unusual Oversized and Historically Important, Wittnauer, Pilot’s Wristwatch in Steel With Weems Second Setting System

Estimate: € 15.000 –⁠ 30.000

Model: Weems Reference: 4356 Case Material: Stainless Steel Bracelet Material: Leather Strap Year: 1940’s Movement: Manual Caliber: 37.9 Case N°: 2 378 013 Movement N°: 5 701 341 Dimensions: 47 mm Signed: Dial, movement and case Lieutenant Philip Van Horn Weems was a U.S. Navy commander born in Tennessee in 1889 and during his career serving his country at sea, he was the inventor of several navigational innovations. One of its best-known inventions is the Second Setting System, designed to help aviators plot their courses more accurately. Thanks to him it can be said that a new kind of watchmaking was born: Weems deducted that the difficulty in setting the watch came from the fact that, at the time, it was almost impossible to set the second hand exactly. The present model features Weems’ second setting system, with an inner rotating dial to improve accuracy in timing and synchronicity, vital for aviation and on seafaring expeditions which were subsequently patented by Longines in 1935. The lot here offered is remarkable since its steel hinged cuvette has been really well preserved and still very clean and reflective, with no evident signs of wearing. The two-tone dial with white enamel chapter ring and silvered rotating inner discs to set the time in seconds shows Breguet numbers and blued steel moon hands. A true “time capsule” piece, its pristine state of preservation makes it a trophy watch for the connoisseur.