adolph lange

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.

The fourth A. Lange & Sohne "Pour le Merite" watch, an outstanding collector's masterpiece, boasts a fusee-and-chain transmission and a tourbillon with a patented stop-seconds mechanism. Both horological complications improve rate stability and precision. The one-of-a-kind regulator dial of the watch reveals a fascinating pivoting segment. It was inspired by a famous historic highlight of the brand. The creation of the Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Merite" watch is closely related to Johann Heinrich Seyffert (1751-1817), a prominent watchmaker, the one who greatly contributed to the progress of precision horology in Saxony. Seyffert's timepieces enjoyed great success at the royal court and among scientists. The famous explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt was also among the admirers of the watchmaker's creations. He used a Seyffert chronometer during his expedition to South America. According to the explorer's notes, the chronometer provided accuracy to four or five seconds a day. When it was kept stationary, its rate accuracy was even better - to less than one second in 24 hours. Even today, such level of precision is truly impressive. The regulator pocket watch crafted by Heinrich Seyffert in 1807 is worth special attention. The watch is a fine reflection of the watchmaker's quest for horological perfection. It presently belongs to the collection of the Mathematics and Physics Salon in Dresden. The dial of the regulator watch is completed with three intersecting circles for the time indications. The caliber of the watch incorporates a fusee-and-chain mechanism providing the constant transmission of power. The timepiece, bearing the serial number 93, served as the blueprint for the Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Merite" watch. The face of the new A. Lange & Sohne watch demonstrates three overlapping off-centre circles. The biggest is the minute circle. The slightly smaller sub-dials are for the seconds and hours. The dial layout has been inspired by the precision regulators, used since the 18th century for calibration by timekeeping services, observatories and manufactories for synchronizing new timepieces. The round cut-out in the seconds sub-dial is traversed by the minute scale and by the recessed tourbillon bridge. It shows off the tourbillon cage. It is interesting to mention that the tourbillon is presented in its entirety only in the period from 12 to 6 o'clock. At 6 o'clock, the dial segment completed with the Roman numerals VIII, IX, and X instantaneously pivots into the aperture, thus *** the hour scale complete. The ingenious switching mechanism is used to generate this motion. It is responsible for the dial segment to be advanced by 90 degrees in increments of six hours. It means that the timepiece tells the time unambiguously during the morning and the evening hours.At 12 o'clock, the hours dial segment instantaneously vanishes and the tourbillon is exposed in all its beauty for the six hours to come. With help of a patented stop-seconds mechanism, it is possible to simply halt the tourbillon by pulling the crown, so the time can be set to one-second accuracy. On the case-back side, the tourbillon is found in a diamond endstone secured in a screwed gold chaton. The same noble setting highlighted the iconic Lange pocket watches relevant to the manufactory's highly-esteemed "1A" quality category. The unique fusee-and-chain transmission, a smart implementation of the principle of levers, is responsible for equalizing the gradually waning force of the mainspring and maintaining the effective torque, this way also maintaining the constant amplitude of the balance, during all 36 hours of the power-reserve. The planetary gearing makes this constant force delivery kept with no interruption even when the timepiece is being wound. The heart of the Pour le Merite watch, the novel hand-finished Lange manufacture calibre L072.1, 33.6mm in diameter, with a frequency of six semi-oscillations per second, a classic screw balance, and a recalculated balance spring, is synonymous to the utmost in precision. The exceptional A. Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Merite" watch features a stately platinum or pink-gold case that measures 41.9mm in diameter. It is coupled with a hand-stitched crocodile strap.The platinum version of the timepiece is strictly limited to 100 pieces.