CELESTIAL WORKINGS
A. Lange & Söhne reinterprets a complication that is both attractive and functional in the stunning 1815 Annual Calendar timepiece
In the year 1845, Ferdinand Adolph Lange laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s watchmaking industry. The company was later expropriated as a consequence of World War II. It wasn’t until the fall of the Berlin Wall that his great grandson Walter Lange fought to re-found the company in 1990.
Today A. Lange & Söhne hones some of the world’s finest watches. Exclusively furnished with proprietary movements, each piece is lavishly assembled by hand. As a nod to the founder’s design principles and birth year, the 1815 Annual Calendar is the brand’s second timepiece with the eponymous calendar function. As part of the 1815 family, which is characterised by painted Arabic numerals, it reads reminiscent of early pocket watches. Hovering over the matte silver dial are blue steel hands, which indicate time. Directly below it, is a moon phase reflecting the same bright hue. Two sub-dials aligned with the centre horizontal axis display the day and the month. Encircling all these indications is a railway track that depicts the minute scale. Protected in clear sapphire crystal and encased in either white or pink gold, the weighted face dangles on a black or brown leather strap. The watch’s mechanism treats February as a 30-day month; hence a manual correction must be performed annually on the first of March—owing its name to this contraption. In place of corrector pins, a button located at two o’clock is pushed. The L051.3 calibre holds a maximum power reserve of 72 hours. Visibly integrated onto the back’s German silver plate are the ratchet and crown wheels for manual winding in a visually precise constellation of blue screws, rubies, and gold engraving. All these complications and mechanical requirements draw a tangible relationship between watch and wearer. On the surface, the 1815 Annual Calendar seems simple. However, hinted by the streamlined architecture and the stardust within the moon phase are inner-workings of a tiny universe that operates on the time-old traditions of A. Lange & Söhne’s beloved craftsmanship.