First seen in 2009, A. Lange & Söhne’s revolutionary Zeitwerk has been updated in two new versions, in platinum and pink gold.
This unprecedented wristwatch concept features large jumping numerals for the hours and minutes as well as a constant-force escapement as a beat controller. To this date, the clear, avant-garde display of time has been peerless.
For the Zeitwerk, the master watchmakers at A. Lange & Söhne took their inspiration from the famous five-minute clock at the Semper Opera House in Dresden (see below). At the time, court clockmaker Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes was commissioned to create it. He was asked to develop a time display that would be easily legible even from the rearmost seats. It was a challenge that forced Gutkaes to rethink the assignment.
Contrary to all large-format clocks with hands, he opted for a revolutionary solution: a clock that displayed the time digitally in five-minute steps. In 1841, he completed the five-minute clock with his co-worker Ferdinand Adolph Lange.
The Zeitwerk has a patented mechanism with three jumping numerals discs that make a glance at the watch a special experience. The hours and minutes are displayed from left to right by large-format numerals that are 2.9 millimetres high and 2.3 millimetres wide. The harmonious arrangement on the curved time bridge and the size of the displays ensure superb legibility.
“To switch the discs of the jumping numerals mechanism to forward on time every minute, the movement requires much more energy than a classic time display. Not only are the numerals discs very heavy by watchmaking standards, but they also have to be quickly accelerated and braked again. This calls for considerably higher forces than the uniform rotation of a pair of hands of much less weight. The greatest amount of energy is needed at the top of the hour when the movement advances all three discs at the same time.”
Anthony de Haas, Director of Product Development, A. Lange & Söhne
While these challenges were already intelligently mastered by the first-generation Zeitwerk, the new generation goes a step further with the refined calibre L043.6. With the patented barrel design with two mainsprings, the power reserve has doubled from 36 to 72 hours. Or, to express it with other numbers: When fully wound, the Zeitwerk now has sufficient energy to perform 4,320 minute jumps or, more precisely, 72 jumps with all three discs, 360 jumps with only two discs, and 3,888 jumps with only one disc.
As with all of the manufactory’s calibres, the artisanal finissage of the 451-part movement complies with the most ambitious Lange standards. With a glance through the sapphire-crystal caseback, connoisseurs can admire the hand-engraved balance and escape-wheel cocks, the solarised winding wheels, the 59 jewels, and the intricate, straight-grained remontoir bridge that accommodates two recessed, screwed gold chatons.
The most prominent element is the time bridge made of German silver. The material, traditionally used by A. Lange & Söhne for frame parts such as bridges and cocks, makes it clear that it is an integral component of the movement. In the new Zeitwerk, it was subtly reworked to make more room for the subsidiary seconds dial at six o’clock. In the scale of the power-reserve indicator on the opposite side, harmoniously positioned above the round of the time bridge, the last twelve hours are now marked in red to clearly indicate that the tension of the mainsprings is gradually waning.
The new Zeitwerk has a case diameter of 41.9 millimetres and a height of 12.2 millimetres. It is available in two versions. It comes in pink gold with a black dial and a time bridge made of untreated German silver. The platinum edition has a rhodié dial made of solid silver. The time bridge is black rhodiumed. Colour-matched hands round out the harmonious design. The pink-gold model has a black alligator leather strap while the platinum version is paired with a dark-brown alligator leather strap.
Price: POA
For more information please visit A. Lange & Söhne