a lange & sohne sax o mat

In many areas of luxury the end consumer is often met with the finished product with little idea of how that product was actually developed the way it was, nor why. Here A. Lange & Sohne provides a fascinating insight into how it approached three technical areas of watch*** and reveal how each of those paths evolved.The first of Lange's innovations for 2010 is harder gold (top). Chemically speaking, this novel "honey-coloured" gold is an 18-carat gold alloy which means it consists of 75 percent pure gold. Its colour lies midway between pink and white gold and is attribut-able to its copper and zinc content.The combination of a special thermal treatment with a slight admixture of man-ganese is responsible for its extraordi-nary hardness which registers between 300-320 HV on the Vickers scale. To put that in perspective, yellow gold's value lies between 135-150 HV meaning honey-coloured gold is more than twice as hard. The benefits to the watchmaker and the wearer are obvious, offering far improved scratch resistance and durability.Meanwhile another of Lange's discoveries for 2010 centres round its Zeitwerk timepiece (above) which boasts numerals that are obscured behind the dial for most of the day. To ensure the wearer can read the time in the dead of night, the numerals’ ability to absorb light had to be addressed.Lange's solution was to create a sapphire-crystal dial with a semi-transparent but UV-permeable coating. The light in the ultra-violet (UV) range from 250 to 430 nanometres is allowed to pass unhindered so the Superluminova numerals can be charged up with photonic energy even when obscured behind the dial. This allows them to glow for several hours at night despite not seeing sunlight in the traditional sense for much of the day.The final innovation likewise involves luminosity but is related to lunar discs rather than numerals. Lange's 1815 Moonphase is accurate to such a degree that it takes over a thousand years for the display to be off by one day relative to the moon's position. Maintaining this excellence, Lange wanted to develop a coating for the stars that would genuinely emulate the appearance of the night sky.The brand employed a group of scientists who pioneered a new process in the watch*** industry in which they apply extremely hard carbon films to the solid-gold lunar discs through physical vapour deposition �C known as PVD. This adjustment of the su***ce not only delivers the desired col-our hue but also very high wear resistance. The lunar discs are crisp and brilliant.

A Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" was recently sold at Antiquorum for $151,000.No. 107/150, was produced in a limited edition of 150 examples in 18kt gold in the 1990's, with only 15 produced in 18kt pink gold. This particular model was sold on March 3, 1999. Production of this reference started in 1994.The case in 18kt pink gold features a visible one-minute tourbillon regulator, with 36 hours of power reserve.Movement is the Lange Caliber L 902.0-No. 432, with a Glashütte three-quarter plate, with the movement being decorated and engraved by hand. It has 29 jewels including 5 in screw-mounted gold châtons, a tourbillon cage bearing 2 diamond endstones, a lateral lever escapement with a one-minute tourbillon regulator with polished-steel equidistant three-arm carriage, and a Glucydur balance with screws, adjusted to 5 positions.It also features a Nivarox balance-spring with overcoil invented by Prof. Strasser, power equalization with chain and fusée, maintaining power and stepped planetary gearing, shock-absorber, and a self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. The case diameter is 38mm.This is the only model produced today, utilizing power equalization with chain and fusée. It is only 12.3 mm. in diameter, with the tourbillon itself comprising 76 components, weighing less than half a gram. The planetary transmission gear, compensating for the decreasing power of the mainspring, is built into a miniature cone, measuring only 10 mm. in diameter at its base. Yet it comprises 38 separate parts.6/3/03