TECHNICAL TO A T
A. Lange & Söhne combines an expert approach to micro mechanics with elegant style
ALMOST ONE YEAR after the death of A.
Lange & Söhne founder Walter Lange, the company is introducing a set of watches in commemoration. The 1815 Homage to Walter Lange features a stoppable jumping sweep seconds hand, an unusual technical feature favoured by Lange that draws on an 1867 invention by his great-grandfather,
Ferdinand Adolph.
As with the original, the seconds jump is controlled by a flirt-and-star principle: as the seconds wheel turns, energy is stored and then released each second to the “flirt” (a lever arm) via a six-tipped star. This action causes the flirt to make a 360-degree rotation, which advances the seconds hands.
The 40.5mm Homage is powered by a new L1924 calibre, named for the year of Lange’s birth, which also drives a subsidiary seconds hand. It’s available in limited editions of white, pink or yellow gold. A further unique version in stainless steel (unusual for A. Lange & Söhne watches) was auctioned by Phillips last month.
The company’s other technical feat this year is the Triple Split, the world’s first mechanical split-seconds chronograph that can make comparative measurements of two concurrent events for up to 12 hours. Introduced some 14 years after the Double Split (then the first mechanical chronograph that allowed comparative measurements for up to 30 minutes), it offers a 55-hour power reserve, compared with the earlier model’s 38.
While a typical split-seconds chronograph is equipped with two central hands that are superimposed one above the other, the Triple Split has flyback split hands for three registers – seconds, minutes and hours – and is thus more complex to produce. Nonetheless, its new L132.1 calibre fits into a case whose 43.2mmby-15.6mm dimensions are similar to those of the Double Split. Available in white gold only, it comes in a limited edition of 100.
The Saxonia family is also joined by three new models: the Saxonia Thin, Saxonia Moon Phase and Saxonia Outsize Date. The Thin comes in a 39mm case (a first for the range) that features a beautiful silver dial topped with a thin layer of copper-blue goldstone. The Moon Phase, previously available only with argente-coloured dials, now comes in two case variants with black dials. Finally, the Outsize Date marries the Saxonia trademarks with a signature outsize date (the last time this combination existed without moonphase was in a 25-piece boutique exclusive in 2013). It’s powered by a new L086.8 movement that’s based on the calibre L086.1.