I knew that the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk watch had a lot going for it. When it was announced several months ago in May, I was sure that Lange was doing things right. Oddly enough, its parent company Richemont Group did not. Even though the brand has an almost fanatical following and continues to win award after award (for both the company and their products), there was enough tension over profits between former CEO Fabian Krone and Richemont Group corporate to lead to the former CEO’s resignation. Shame that Richemont didn’t value the skill and determination of the brand.

Like Zeitwerk… I mean clockwork, A. Lange & Sohne has won yet another award for their watches. The result of this year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has the Lange Zeitwerk watch winning the “Golden Hand” award. Roughly making it the top watch of the year. Through the various categories, this is the ideal award that any watch maker can strive to achieve for this highly watched annual horological recognition event.

The Lange Zeitwerk watch is a mechanical masterpiece that combines modern and traditional watch making. The dial shows the time digitally via two windows and has a analog subsidiary seconds dial and power reserve indicator. Prices for the watches average about $55,000 – $76,000 (gold and then platinum).

The graciously flattering presence of a timepiece such as this needs to be seen on a woman’s wrist to be appreciated. The mixture of perfect functionality with luxury appointments makes A. Lange & Sohne of the best high-end watch makers in the world, especially for women. This is the newest model in their lady’s jewelry watch line, and they are highly limited in production.

These are the new Cabaret Soirée timepieces and they come in 26.5mm wide by 36.3mm tall 18k white gold cases with 70 Wesselton diamonds lining the bezel (0.9 carats). Sapphire crystal and caseback for appreciating the hand decorated movement. There are two versions of the watch, both limited to only 10 pieces. The dials of each are lined with solid silver and have rhodium coated gold hands. First is the Ref. 827.029 in baby blue, with a mother-of-pearl dial, matched with the light blue crocodile strap. Then there is the Ref. 827.035 Cabaret Soirée in pink with a rose colored mother-of-pearl dial, matched with a “mother-of-pearl rose” colored pink crocodile strap.

Like all A. Lange & Sohne watches, the Cabaret Soirée watches will have all in-house made movements. These watches have the Calibre L931.4 manually wound mechanical movements with a subsidiary seconds hand and “out-size” date. The movement has 237 parts and a power reserve of 42 hours. Everything on the case and watch is top quality, and you’ll be lucky to get one of the only twenty pieces available worldwide.

Prestigious accolades continue to roll in for German luxury watch manufacture A. Lange & Sohne.  At the Salon International Alta Relojeria in Mexico City on October 1st, the manufacture’s recently introduced Lange Zeitwerk timepiece claimed a “Watch of the Year” prize from the jury who recognized its “great artistic originality”.  This timepiece, showcases a brilliant digital jumping indication for both hours and minutes in concert with a power reserve indicator and elapsed seconds display.  These sophisticated functions are combined with delightful symmetry upon solid silver dials, and are animated by an entirely new in-house A. Lange & Sohne manually wound movement.

Just prior to that occasion, in the final week of September, A. Lange & Sohne’s Richard Lange “Pour le Merite” watch took double honors at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Asia in Singapore–”Watch of the Year” and “Best Men’s Watch”.  A haute horlogerie masterpiece of impeccable elegance and understatement, the Richard Lange PLM presents one of the most challenging and artful complications to be implemented in a wristwatch: a complex fusee and chain system which provides constant operating torque and consequently, optimized precision.

Featuring a power reserve of one month and constant force delivery across this entire 31-day period, the Lange 31 attracted considerable attention when it was launched two years ago. Now, Lange is ready to present a second version with an eloquent pink-gold case. This is an ideal opportunity to outline what stands behind the design of a Lange timepiece.

The eminent Saxon manufactory can take credit for a veritable stroke of genius: Not only is the Lange 31 the first mechanical wristwatch with a tremendous power reserve of an entire month, it also preserves a stable rate for the full 31-day period. Two stacked mainspring barrels, each with a 185-centimetre long spring, store the necessary energy. A constant-force escapement between the twin mainspring barrel and the going train assures that the balance receives an identical amount of energy every ten seconds, regardless of the state of wind of the springs.

A high-tech power pack like this requires space. The movement has a diameter of 37.3 millimetres and is 9.6 millimetres thick – quite an unusual challenge for Lange’s senior designer Martin Schetter. With his team, the Swiss national has spent nearly ten years designing what observers of Lange watches see first. His objective was to develop a balanced visual vocabulary for the impressive case and the prominent dial of the Lange 31.

From the initial sketch to final acceptance, the design of the dial alone absorbed two years. That sounds like a long time, but it is part of Lange’s heritage to repeatedly scrutinise in-house design iterations. After all, timelessness is one of the requirements imposed on Lange watches. Even after 30 or 50 years, they should not reveal their true age. But how can form be liberated from the influence of zeitgeist? Schetter’s answer is surprisingly simply: “We can give things time. Because it is time alone that judges whether something is timeless.”

The first draft of the Lange 31 was already very close to its current dial configuration. During the past two years, only minor details were modified even though more than 70 variations were considered, some differing from others only in an hour marker that might have been a fraction of a millimetre longer or shorter, or in other hardly perceptible details. But these steps were essential in the quest for true finesse. They showed the designers which details were not distinctive enough to survive time. So for Martin Schetter, alternatives are the only way to approach timeless design. “Letting ideas compete with each other filters the better from the good.”

Then there is one more requirement that must be respected by the designers, indeed perhaps the most important one: The watch must have that typical “Lange look”. What is that? Descriptive values such as passion, clarity, perfection, and the never-ending search for a higher level of evolution might point in the right direction. But the definition of “Lange-like” dwells in the hearts of the people at Lange.

It is from this intimacy that principles of gestalt gradually emerge to make Lange watches inimitable. But the principles are not a straitjacket. They give the designers ample latitude to think in various directions and evolve their visions. Each new design must incorporate a genuine innovation. And furthermore, its legacy must remain recognisable. Several facets that were already discernible 15 years ago in the Lange 1, meanwhile a design icon in its own right, have been adopted for the Lange 31: the stately case format, the off-centre Lange outsize date, the elegant lancet hands, and the power-reserve indicator. This display was a prime candidate for reinterpretation because in a 31-day movement, it plays a prominent role that it can fully unfold on the large, solid-silver dial. It occupies nearly the whole right-hand side as the epigrammatic symbol of a horological revolution. The Lange outsize date on the left-hand side safeguards the graceful visual balance of the dial.

One of the factors that Lange designers appreciate most is intensive collaboration with calibre engineers. This is possible only in a true manufactory. Clearing technical hurdles and the odyssey to the perfect form are two pro-cesses that take place concurrently. Unlike brands that outsource raw movements and rely on designers to fashion the dials according to the specifications of their ébauche suppliers, Lange can indulge in the luxury of asking its calibre engineers to create a watch on the basis of a designer’s imagination – precisely the opposite path. Arguably, a superbly balanced dial like that of the Lange 31 can only be found with this approach. Needless to say, Lange is also an adherent of the maxim “Form follows function” as a modern concept of the 20th century. But at Lange, it never becomes a decree that could potentially prevent the inception of good design

The third A. Lange & Söhne wristwatch with a fusée-and-chain transmission continues the tradition of observation watches that are fully focused on precise time measurement. This horological rarity with its three-part enamel dial has famous historic forebears.The fuséeand- chain transmission compensates for the declining spring force, keeping the effective torque constant across the entire power-reserve period.

For this purpose, the drive function, usually handled by the mainspring barrel alone, is split into two components: the mainspring barrel and the adjacent taped fusée.The two components are connected by a dainty chain which in the case of the RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite” consists of 636 individual parts.

The beautiful Petite Lange 1 gets a moon phase complication in this lovely decorated model for the ladies. Also known at the “little Lange 1,” this very feminine watch collection extends the look of the Lange 1 watch dial layout over two types of mother of pearl faces in either a white color or a dark blue.

Functions include the time, subsidiary seconds dial, out-size date, power reserve indicator, and moon phase indicator as part of the seconds dial. Powering the watch is A. Lange & Sohne’s in-house made manually-wound L901.9 movement – a very complex little machine with over 400 parts and a 3 day power reserve.

The watch case is in 18k white gold, about 37mm wide, and 10mm thick. The bezel is lined with 58 brilliant cut diamonds totaling about 0.9 carats. The hands and markers on the watch are also in gold. In addition to the two mother of pearl dials, there is a solid silver face available.

 The pictured white version has a supple alligator strap, while the dark blue Petite Lange 1 has a stingray strap. The case back of the watch is covered with a sapphire crystal for a splendid view of the meticulously decorated movement.

Each watch is very attractive and still sophisticated. One of the most beautiful women’s watches, it is as much artistically designed as it is a serious horological item of interest and exclusivity. Each version of these A. Lange & Sohne Petite Lange 1 Moonphase watches is limited to 150 pieces.

Manufacture A.Lange &Sohne of Glashutte achieved a technical milestone with their.Double Split Chronograph when it debuted two years ago.Gooldarths Review’s Technical Editor of Horology Ron DeCorte unlocks the secrets of this sublime masterpiece

A. Lange & Söhne is not the largest watch manufacture and they prefer to keep it that way. Nevertheless, in name and by way of reputation, they are amongst the titans of the watch world. Precision is an attitude at their base of operations in Glashütte, Germany that becomes ever more evident with every step you take past the A. Lange & Söhne doors.

The question, when it comes to the A. Lange & Söhne Double Split chronograph is this: is it truly new or just another take on an old subject? In fact, it is truly a new idea that marks the evolution of a classic watchmaking complication.

Basically, the Double Split is a chronograph meant to record periods of time, events, with great precision. In the mid 1800’s the idea for a split seconds chronograph emerged. This mechanism allowed two events to be compared via the same watch. This is useful for any kind of racing activity.

But there was one drawback to all these previous split chronographs: they could only record comparative differences of one minute or less.

If you had two events that might elapse over the course of more than one minute, you had to mentally keep track of the minutes. By way of contrast, the Double Split allows a comparative record of two events to be precisely generated for up to 30 minutes.