Prestigious German watch manufacture A. Lange & Söhne is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its iconic Lange 1 with a limited special edition LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST timepiece. Unveiled in Dresden in Oct 2014, production of this model will be restricted to 20 pieces.
This limited special edition timepiece in platinum boasts one-minute tourbillon with stop seconds, black enamelled dial and artisanal finishes. 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 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 cut outs 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 end stone 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 developer 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.
Technical details
Model: LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST
Ref. 704.048F
Movement
Lange manufactures calibre L961.3; manually wound, crafted to the most exacting Lange quality standards, decorated and assembled by hand; precision-adjusted in five positions; threequarter 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 end stones
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
Movement dimensions: Diameter: 30.6 millimetres; height: 5.9 millimetres
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 , dial and strap
Platinum case
Case dimensions: Diameter: 38.5 millimetres; height: 10.2 millimetres
Crystal and back: Sapphire crystal (Mohs hardness 9)
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
