As a reviewer, hobbyist and a lover of watches, whiskeys, and cigars, I fell into a state of luxury fatigue. I feel like this was due to social media, or luxury Fuc -  (I mean) Fanboys. These Fuc- Fanboys are the ones who plagued social media with Rolex sports models, AP Royal Oaks, and Patek Nautilus’. I will come back to this later, but for now let me start with the predicament I put myself in, and the journey I took to get me to the Longines Zulu Spirit Time GMT. I hope you are in for a read, because I have a lot to get off my chest! It’s been one hell of a year. 

So, I am now married (thank you for your congratulations). And during the time when I first met the person who is now my wife, I made a promise that I would limit myself to purchasing one watch a year (unless I found a really good deal). Since this hobby of mine has not produced any fruit from my labour, as in I’m not making any money, I had to be mindful of what watch to buy for that year to love and to review. As January 1st 2023 rolled around, so did the hunt. 

Over the years of me collecting watches, I have learnt my likes and dislikes. What I can and can’t live with in a watch, and what my actual comfort level of spending money on a luxury item was. So off I went about with the parameters that I had set to find my next watch and I wanted to ensure that I wasn’t duplicating something I already had. I had 4 divers, 3 chronographs, a desk GMT, 3 digital watches, a vintage watch that plagues me with problems non stop, and 2 GADA (Go Anywhere Do Anything) watches and possibly a couple of other watches that are escaping my mind as I write this. I also know that I love watches to be as close to 11mm thick as possible, and no larger than 42mm in diameter and not go too crazy on my budget. So having that list in mind I started looking at the usual suspects: Rolex, Omega, Tudor, Grand Seiko, and a few other brands. 

Now going back to that luxury fatigue I mentioned above. I was sick of Rolex, especially from those people that only had eyes for expensive pieces, and don’t actually like watches. These are people who had memorized reference numbers and just quoted me prices and models and just wanted something flashy on their wrists, but had no clue of something like Seiko watches. I also didn’t feel comfortable wearing something that was too outside my budget, but more importantly I really did not want to be associated with those people who wanted to wear something for clout. When I buy a watch, I don’t want to be just another person with a Submariner. Don’t get me wrong, I still love those watches, but I’ve seen so many on my feed that I became a little apprehensive. So with that being said, I had to cut a few options out. I cut out the Speedy. I can get one later since I had the Moon Swatch to scratch my initial itch and there are just too many models to choose from. But that was the direction I started looking at. I was looking at chronographs. I narrowed down my search to a Breguet type XX but the thickness made me take a step back. Then, I remembered Tudor released a Black Bay Chronograph. So I decided to check it out. There I was sitting at a Tudor AD with no chronographs in sight. However, they did have the Black Bay GMT. I remembered that they released the GMT with the Opaline dial and I did not currently own a “true” GMT. But with the BB GMT on my wrist, I just couldn’t get over the thickness of that watch and the hideous snowflake hands. So I decided to pass on it. Even though I really liked the watch, I became fixated on how big it was like Austin Powers was on Fred Savage’s Mole in Goldmember. I’m just not a fan of new Tudor. I really prefer their older models from the 90’s. 

While I was out hunting for my new watch I started going back to the old lists that I made of watches I would buy if money wasn’t an issue. The main one that stood out was the Rolex Explorer II white dial except there was a slight hiccup. Even though the fanboys didn't plague my feed with it, It was still a Rolex. It was hard to get, and I refused to go on the secondary market for it. If that wasn’t enough, I am not fond of the orange GMT hand but prefer the old red hand. Then I discovered that Grand Seiko GMT with the 9F quartz movement that had the blue dial of the Yachtmaster and the body of the Explorer II. But once again, I found a problem. The watch was a bit small for me. The case was 38mm and the lug width was 18mm. I already invested in straps and don’t wish to start buying more. So I went back to looking at other GMT’s and all I found were dive watches with a GMT hand, homages of the Rolex GMT, or just blatant copies. This is where I started thinking about things logically; something that usually gets me into trouble. The thought was, why is the GMT watch a diver style watch rather than a pilot style watch? With that thought in mind I started looking at pilot watches. I focused on companies with aviation history that didn’t have a dive watch GMT, and something that I actually liked. The only conclusion I had was Longines. 

I remembered that the Longines Spirit Zulu Time was released in 2022. I went back to an AD and revisited it. At this point in time, they even had the 39mm version as well. Having tried both sizes on my wrist. I found the 39mm a bit too small for me. While the 42mm was pushing to be a bit too large on the bracelet because of the male end links, putting it on a strap was very easy. Also, a pilot's watch is supposed to be big. So off I went to the AD and I fell in love with the black dial, the golden hands, the numbers and the chapter ring and the way they all came together. The positioning of the logo at the 12 o’clock position, and the text at the 6 o’clock position utilized the dial's negative space perfectly to make the dial look balanced. The size of the applied Arabic numerals hour markers is perfect, along with the lume. Lastly, that dark green ceramic bezel insert was the perfect choice to bring it home! 

Now love does crazy things to a person. Believe me, I have stories… one of those crazy things is that you start to overlook certain things or justify something that would have been a nonnegotiable issue in the past. To be honest, there are several things that could have made the Zulu Time perfect if Longines only did the following: 

First, date change. It takes more than hour for the date to change over after midnight. For a luxury watch they could at least have the date change at midnight. I’m not sure if it’s a limitation of their GMT complication. But for the price point, it’s disappointing. I noticed the date wheel started to move around 11:30 PM and didn't complete the change over until 1:20 AM. 

Second, the bracelet. Although their quick release feature (a button underneath the end links that you can press down to retract the spring bars for quick removal) in the bracelet is cool, it is over engineered and not necessary. Using quick release spring bars would have been more cost effective and I suspect this quick release  feature is the reason for the next issue with the bracelet. The male end links protrude out too much and add additional length to the length of the watch from lug to lug. This forces you to either try and fix the issue by wearing the watch way too tight, or live with a lopsided watch on your wrist. Working my way down the bracelet, the next gripe that I have is, why are they still using pins? At this price point, they should be using screws! Lastly, they should have taken the money from the quick release feature and spent it on an on-the-fly micro adjust in the clasp. This would have been a better use of their engineering time. 

Third is the quality control. During my research, I found the following issues plaguing the internet. Usually, I never buy a watch on the release date. I wait for others to test and find all the problems with a watch that the manufacturer will need to address before I get that watch. One of the main issues I found was with the bezel not aligning at the 12 o’clock position. The model that I had the AD order for me had that issue. The reason that I had the AD order me a new watch was because the model that they had in the store had something that I like to call, the 8 o’clock bounce. What that is, is that if you push down on the bezel at the 8 o’clock position, the bezel will bounce up and down. I initially thought that this was on the model that they had, but this happened on all models that I handled. Lastly, I found that several people have complained about the date not being centered in the window. I don’t have that issue.

Knowing all of these issues, I was still smitten with the watch. At this price point, I wish that these problems didn’t exist. But that’s what love does to you. You see all these flaws but you just can’t help it! Thus with all of its flaws, I still love this watch! It is the imperfect perfect watch for me and my collection. 

Technical specifications from Longines:

Case:

Shape
Round

Material
Stainless steel and ceramic bezel

Glass
Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, with several layers of anti-reflective coating on both sides

Dimension
Ø 42.00 mm

Lug distance
22 mm

Thickness
13.90 mm Wears thinner

Water Resistance
Water-resistant to 10 bar

Case Specificities
Bi-directional rotating bezel, Screw-in crown

Weight
164.6 g

Dial & Hands:

Dial color
Anthracite

Hour markers
Applied Arabic numerals

Hands
Gold polished hands

Specificities
Swiss Super-LumiNova®

Movement & Functions:

Movement Type
Automatic

Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds and date. 24 hours hand with time zone mechanism

Caliber
L844.4

Movement Description
Self-winding mechanical movement beating at 25'200 vibrations per hour, with a monocrystalline silicon balance-spring power reserve up to 72 hours

Special Functions
Chronometer certified by the COSC

Strap:

Bracelet/Strap
Bracelet

Material
Stainless steel

Buckle
With double safety folding clasp and push-piece opening mechanism

Interchangeability
Easily change your bracelet/strap thanks to the Longines interchangeable system

General:

Magnetic resistant
Yes

Chronometer Officially Certified
Yes