A. Lange & Söhne’s Perpetual sophistication in the distinctive LANGE 1 design is now available in Platinum with a black dial.
The LANGE 1 PERPETUAL CALENDAR introduced two years ago, represents the highest standards in precision, design and originality, resulting in a singular appeal. The new model version, housed in a 950-platinum case and measuring 41.9 mm in diameter, is complemented with a black dial, thus enriching the watch family with a particularly refined colour combination. The month ring provides the framework for all the displays.
The numerals of the outsized date and the leap year contrast well against the black background. All calendar indications switch instantaneously and therefore produce unambiguous readings at any given time. They can be advanced collectively or separately with correctors. Once set correctly, the mechanism is programmed to accurately display the turn of the month until 2100.
“The commitment to tailor the complex mechanical requirements to the characteristic design of the LANGE 1 presented our developers with constructive challenges, as the large peripheral ring has to be advanced instantaneously by 30 degrees from one month to the next. Throughout the month, energy is collected via a cam in order to provide the required power exactly on time, at midnight on the last day of the month. Thanks to this design feature in the LANGE 1 PERPETUAL CALENDAR, the watch familyʼs distinctive face is maintained. The timepiece is therefore also emblematic of our philosophy to continuously break new ground in the realm of precision watchmaking.”
Anthony de Haas, Director of Product Development, A. Lange & Söhne
Designing a mechanism for a perpetual calendar that takes into account the different durations of the months in a year as well as the leap years, presents a challenge that the ambitious A. Lange & Söhne developers took on in 2001 with the LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL. In order to preserve the signature design of the LANGE 1 watch family with its off-centre and non-overlapping displays, Langeʼs watchmakers opted for a completely new approach and developed a peripheral month ring that advances instantaneously at the end of each month.
Adding a day/night indicator to the moon-phase display is also typical of the manufactureʼs continued quest for precision. Constructed across two levels, it consists of a solid-gold celestial disc with graduated blue hues that rotates around its own axis once during 24 hours. Against this backdrop, the white-gold moon performs its synodic orbit in 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds ‒ with such precision that the display only needs to be corrected by one day after 122.6 years.
The high standards of perfection upheld by the manufacture immediately become apparent at a glance through the sapphire-crystal case back of calibre L021.3 ‒ it is elaborately finished by hand and assembled twice. The technical features of the manufacture movement include a unidirectional winding rotor in 21-carat gold with a centrifugal mass in 950 platinum, a power reserve of 50 hours and a balance with eccentric poising weights that beats at a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour.
Lange-typical quality hallmarks such as plates and bridges made of untreated German silver decorated with Glashütte ribbing, five gold chatons held by blued-steel screws as well as the balance cock engraved free-hand, with the whiplash spring mounted above to regulate beat adjustments reflect the manufactureʼs lofty aspirations in every single detail.
Technical Specifications:
| LANGE 1 PERPETUAL CALENDAR |
| Movement | Lange manufacture calibre L021.3, self-winding, crafted to the most exacting Lange quality standards, decorated and assembled by hand; precision-adjusted in five positions; plates and bridges made of untreated German silver; unidirectional winding rotor in 21-carat gold with centrifugal mass in 950 platinum; balance cock engraved by hand |
| No. of movement parts | 621 |
| No. of jewels | 63 |
| No. of screwed gold chatons | 5 |
| Escapement | Lever escapement |
| Oscillator | Shock-resistant balance with eccentric posing weights; balance spring manufactured in-house, frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour; precision beat adjustment mechanism with lateral setscrew and whiplash spring |
| Power reserve | 50 hours when fully wound |
| Functions | Time indicated in hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds dial; perpetual calendar with instantaneously advancing displays for outsize date, day of week, month and leap year; moon-phase display with integrated day/night indicator |
| Operating elements | Crown for winding the watch and setting the time; correctors for switching all calendar displays or for individual switching of the month, day of week and moon phase |
| Case dimensions | Diameter: 41.9 millimetres; height: 12.1 millimetres |
| Movement dimensions | Diameter: 35.8 millimetres; height: 8.8 millimetres |
| Crystal and transparent caseback | Sapphire crystal (Mohs hardness 9) |
| Case | 950 platinum |
| Dial | Solid silver, black |
| Hands | Rhodiumed gold |
| Strap | Hand-stitched leather, black |
| Buckle | Prong buckle in 950 platinum |
For more information please visit A. Lange & Söhne