A Century of Time Across Time Zones: Longines Celebrates 100 Years of the Zulu Time Watch

There is something poetic about measuring the passage of time — not just in seconds and hours, but across oceans, skies, and centuries.  Longines has long understood this poetry, and with the release of the Spirit Zulu Time 1925, the brand marks a full century since the debut of its first dual-time wristwatch.  This centennial edition is not just a celebration of history — it is a vivid reminder of how tradition and innovation can coexist in perfect balance.

The 1925 Zulu Time wristwatch was a milestone — not only for Longines, but for the entire watchmaking world.  It brought clarity and confidence to the wrist of the traveler, the pilot, the explorer.  Now, in 2025, Longines honours this pioneering moment with a 39mm anniversary model that blends technical elegance with vintage soul.  A steel case with an 18 carat rose gold-capped bezel and matching accents on the hands and indices draws a warm contrast against a matte black dial. Look closely, and you’ll find a nod to the Prime Meridian — rose gold, evoking the copper strip embedded in the floor of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Inside ticks the L844.4 calibre, a thoroughly modern mechanical movement with a silicon balance spring and magnetic resistance far exceeding ISO standards. This is a true traveller’s GMT, with a bidirectional rotating bezel enabling the reading of a third time zone — an asset for those who cross continents as easily as city blocks.  On the reverse, a transparent caseback reveals a rose-gold-coloured rotor, engraved with a world map bisected by the Zero Meridian: a poetic touch that turns every glance at the movement into a moment of connection.

This edition doesn’t stand alone.  It is the capstone of a lineage that stretches back to Longines’ Turkish Watches of 1908, the cockpit clocks of the 1930s, and the reimagined Spirit Zulu Time collection launched in 2022.  It is also joined by new models with ceramic bezels and contrasting anthracite dials — modern takes on a timeless formula.

As Henry Cavill, Longines Ambassador of Elegance, says in the campaign accompanying the launch, “What time is it there?” is more than a practical question — it is an emotional tether.  And that is what the Spirit Zulu Time 1925 becomes: a bridge between people, places, and time itself.