27 years after A. Lange & Sohne was revived following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Glashutte firm has released a series in his honour.
Walter Lange was a huge figure in modern watchmaking, and absolutely instrumental to the reformation and the success of A. Lange & Sohne since 1990. When the news emerged during SIHH 2017 that he had passed away, it left a sombre mood among the many who had met him, and fans of the watches – like the Lange 1 and the Datograph – that without him would not have existed.
As you would expect, the company is now paying tribute to his life’s work with a run of special edition watches, and as you would expect from A. Lange & Sohne, they do so in the most discreet and mannered way possible. No bells and whistles here: instead something horologically pure and effortlessly tasteful.
Walter Lange was a huge figure in modern watchmaking, and absolutely instrumental to the reformation and the success of A. Lange & Sohne since 1990. When the news emerged during SIHH 2017 that he had passed away, it left a sombre mood among the many who had met him, and fans of the watches – like the Lange 1 and the Datograph – that without him would not have existed.
As you would expect, the company is now paying tribute to his life’s work with a run of special edition watches, and as you would expect from A. Lange & Sohne, they do so in the most discreet and mannered way possible. No bells and whistles here: instead something horologically pure and effortlessly tasteful.
What we have here is a new take on the 1815, with a central jumping seconds hand (also known as dead seconds, deadbeat seconds, true beat seconds). This one, unlike many, is stoppable at any point via the pusher at 2 o’clock (and can in effect act as a rudimentary chronograph, therefore). It’s also unusual in that the watch retains the 1815’s standard sweep seconds at the 6 o’clock subdial – so the watch will provide a little low-key visual theatre as you see the two seconds hands advance in sync.
This jumping seconds complication harks back to an 1867 invention of F A Lange, and works on the same principle (known as “flirt and star”), where a six-pointed star wheel meters out the energy for the jump seconds hand in conjunction with a ratchet.
Larger than the standard 1815 (40.5mm compared to 38.5mm), it will be produced in white gold, yellow gold and pink gold, each with blued steel hands and a railroad minute track. This is the sentimental bit: the calibre has been designated L1924 in honour of Walter Lange’s birth year; the production volumes of each variant also correspond to significant dates in his life. 145 in white gold (the length of time between the brand’s founding and it’s re-emergence); 90 in pink gold for the year of the brand’s re-birth, and 27 in yellow gold for the time (to the day, December 7th), since the company was re-formed.
And that’s not all. There will also be a one-off extra special version of the same watch, in stainless steel with a black enamel dial. Steel watches from A. Lange & Sohne are already rarer than hen’s teeth, so this will be in huge demand. It will be auctioned in 2018 with the proceeds going to charitable causes.
This article was first published on Salon QP
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