A. Lange & Söhne is celebrating the 20th birthday of its brand icon with a limited special edition
LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST
One-minute tourbillon with stop seconds, black enamelled dial and artisanal finishes, enclosed by a 38.5-millimetre platinum case – these are the salient features of the Lange 1 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst. To commemorate the anniversary of a timepiece that became the style-defining ambassador of A. Lange & Söhne, it is being presented in an edition limited to 20 watches.
The LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST in platinum
On the occasion of the 20th birthday of its brand icon, the Lange 1, A. Lange & Söhne is introducing a special 20-watch edition of the Lange 1 Tourbillon with the epithet “Handwerkskunst”. Its extraordinary hallmarks include exquisite manifestations of craftsmanship in probably unprecedented combinations.
The black enamelled main dial sets the perfect stage for the mirror-polished hour markers as well as the matching hands in rhodiumed gold. The tourbillon cock, finished with the challenging specular polishing technique, is one of the key style elements of this watch. The black solid-silver subsidiary dial for the seconds is slightly recessed into the main dial. The contour of the aperture for the tourbillon has meticulously polished chamfers. The numerals of the Lange outsize date are grey on a black background.
The movement of the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST with its lavish decorations
The lavish decorations of the calibre L961.3 manufacture movement deserve the attribute “Handwerkskunst” in every respect. The solarised three-quarter plate made of untreated German silver has generous cutouts that reveal the identically decorated twin mainspring barrel. The tourbillon bridge, crown-wheel and intermediate-wheel cocks are elaborately engraved with a technique that sculpts the motifs out of the material. Seven screwed gold chatons as well as two diamond endstone bearings for the tourbillon constitute the finishing touches. The diamonds are traditional hallmarks that Ferdinand Adolph Lange once introduced to highlight the premium quality of his pocket watches.
In 2008, more than 200 years after the tourbillon was invented, A. Lange & Söhne’s product developers succeeded for the first time in reliably immobilising the balance wheel inside the rotating tourbillon cage. Finally, timepieces with tourbillons could be stopped and set with one-second accuracy. The patented stop-seconds mechanism is also integrated in the Lange 1 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst.
A stately platinum case with a diameter of 38.5 millimetres protects the artisan-crafted masterpiece. This exclusive collectors’ watch will be unveiled within the scope of an international press conference in Dresden on 24 October 2014. The presentation of the first Lange new-era collection took place 20 years ago on the same date.
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About A. Lange & Söhne
When Ferdinand Adolph Lange established his watch manufactory in 1845, he laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s precision watchmaking industry. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after World War II, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly vanished. In 1990, Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s great-grandson Walter Lange had the courage to relaunch the brand. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches in gold or platinum per year. They are endowed exclusively with proprietary movements that are lavishly decorated and assembled by hand. In a period of just over 20 years, A. Lange & Söhne developed 49 manufacture calibres and secured a top-tier position among the world’s finest watch brands. Its biggest successes include innovative timekeeping instruments like the LANGE 1 with the first outsize date in a regularly produced wristwatch as well as the LANGE ZEITWERK with its supremely legible, precisely jumping numerals. Meanwhile, both models have become icons of the venerable brand.
LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST Ref. 704.048F | |
Movement |
Lange manufacture calibre L961.3; manually wound, crafted to the most exacting Lange quality standards, decorated and assembled by hand; precision-adjusted in five positions; three-quarter plate made of untreated German silver; steel tourbillon cock specular-polished on the dial side; intermediate wheel and crown-wheel cocks as well as tourbillon bridge on the movement side in German silver, engraved by hand |
Movement parts |
378 |
Jewels |
51, including 2 diamond endstones |
Screwed gold chatons |
7 |
Escapement |
Lever escapement |
Oscillator |
Shock-resistant screw balance; balance spring manufactured in-house with a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour |
Power reserve |
72 hours when fully wound |
Functions |
Time indicated in hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds; power-reserve indicator; Lange outsize date; one-minute tourbillon with patented stop seconds |
Operating elements |
Crown for winding the watch and setting the time; push piece for rapid correction of the outsize date |
Case dimensions |
Diameter: 38.5 millimetres; height: 10.2 millimetres |
Movement dimensions |
Diameter: 30.6 millimetres; height: 5.9 millimetres |
Crystal and back |
Sapphire crystal (Mohs hardness 9) |
Case |
Platinum |
Dial |
Black enamelled white-gold main dial; solid-silver subsidiary seconds dial |
Hands |
Rhodiumed gold |
Strap |
Hand-stitched crocodile strap, black |
Clasp |
Lange deployant buckle in platinum |
Limitation |
20 watches |