A. Lange & Söhne has unveiled three stunning new timepieces, offering bold new takes on the brand’s classic Split, and Lange 1 icons.
Saxony-based A. Lange & Söhne is already a byword for elegant timepieces and its Lange 1 model has a cult following among gentlemen who value tradition and craftsmanship. Now, for 2021, the acclaimed watchmaker introduces a series of new takes on its classic models, including the Lange 1, its smaller sibling the Little Lange 1, and its revolutionary Triple Split.
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Triple Split
Let’s rewind a little here, back to 2018. That’s when A. Lange & Söhne first presented the Triple Split. No, it’s not a gymnastics move, that we know of, but the only split-seconds chronograph in the world at the time, and one that could measure additive and comparative times for as long as 12 hours. Impressed? Now, the watchmaker has added a striking new model to the collection, one with a pink-gold case and a blue dial.
While stopping times of up to 12 hours is, by itself, a rarity in a mechanical chronograph, the extension of the rattrapante function to the hour counter offers a multitude of further possibilities. In the starting position, the three rhodiumed rattrapante hands are superposed on the respective chronograph hands, with time measurement started with the press of a chronograph pusher at 2 o’clock. The pairs of hands then run synchronously until they are separated by pressing the rattrapante pusher at 10 o’clock to perform a lap-time measurement. The three rhodiumed hands will then stop to display the lap time.
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All the while, the previously concealed chronograph hands in gold-plated steel or pink gold continue the time measurement. As soon as the rattrapante pusher is pressed again, the rattrapante hands catch up with the chronograph hands and from then on run together once more. The movement is also endowed with a flyback function that involves all three hand pairs as well.
Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar
The new Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar is totally focused on the eponymous complication. Its integration into the prominent dial layout of the Lange 1 collection was made possible thanks to a peripheral month ring created especially for this design.
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To integrate the calendar ensemble into the exceptional off-centre dial architecture of the Lange 1 without compromising the harmonious balance of the displays, the month indication was implemented with a ring at the periphery of the dial that advances once a month. The ring-shaped month display is complemented with the Lange outsize date, a retrograde day-of-week display, and a leap-year indication. They can be advanced collectively or individually with correctors. Once properly set, the mechanism is programmed to reliably indicate each month change until the year 2100, if we’re all still around by then.
The watch additionally features a moon-phase display with an integrated day/night indicator. The combination of the moon-phase display with a day/night indicator has two layers; a solid-gold celestial disc with a blue gradation. Against this background, the moon – either in white or pink gold – performs its synodic orbit in 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and three seconds with such precision that it takes 122.6 years before a correction by one day is needed. Nice.
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Many of Lange’s quality hallmarks can be admired through the sapphire-crystal caseback and as always, the parts of the movement, which is assembled twice, are manually finished to the strictest Lange standards. The new timepiece comes in pink gold with a grey-silver dial or – in a limited edition of 150 watches – in white gold with a solid pink-gold dial.
Little Lange 1 Moon Phase
Equipped with a 36.8-millimetre white-gold case, the eye-catching solid-silver dial of the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is coated with shimmering dark-blue gold flux, with the sparkling copper particles evoking a starry nocturnal sky. The dark hue of the dial is echoed by the outsize date and the white-gold lunar disc with its 628 stars. In a second version, a bezel set with 56 brilliant-cut diamonds creates a radiant frame for the fascinating dial, if you’re looking for a piece with a little more bling.
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The fascination of a bright moonlit night is the motif of the new Little Lange 1 Moon Phase. A white-gold moon accurately orbits along its course beneath the iconic Lange outsize date. The elegant combination of aesthetic appeal and precision in a watch is demonstrated by the timepiece with a moon-phase display calculated to remain accurate for 122.6 years. With the configuration of an off-centre dial layout, the outsize date, the power-reserve indicator, the twin mainspring barrel, and a three-day movement, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase has all of the technical features of its big brother, the Lange 1.
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