lange 303.025

[ via A. Lange & Sohne ]A. Lange & Sohne recently introduced a new version of their popular Lange 1 Time Zone watch. It features a slate grey dial with a new world time ring that now includes Santiago de Chile, in place of Caracas. The change was made because Venezuela changed its time zone from Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4) to (UTC-4:30). The watch is powered by a manually-wound Lange L031.1 caliber in-house movement. Comprised of 417 parts, the caliber displays traditional Saxon fine finishing, including plates in untreated German silver with Glashutte ribbing decoration, blued screws, a hand-engraved balance cock, and four movement jewels set in gold chatons. The caliber features twin mainspring barrels, which enable a 72-hour power reserve. Balance wheel frequency is 21,600 alternations per hour. In addition to the famous off-set time display and outsize date function, the movement animates an innovative dual timezone display with two day/night indicators and an adjustable worldtime ring. A power reserve indicator shows the status of tension remaining in the spring barrels.The A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Time Zone watch measures 41.9mm in diameter, and is fitted with sapphire crystals on both front and back. The strap is made in hand-sewn crocodile and features a massive gold Lange buckle complete the ensemble.

SIHH 2010: A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Annual CalendarA. Lange & Sohne went a long way developing the most complicated in-house movements and an addition to their extensive line of models of an Annual Calendar watch was only a matter of time. I am so glad it is a Saxonia model that successfully combines elegant appearance with intelligent design.A little bit of total disclosure here: when it comes to dressy watches, I am a sucker for Lange. Okay, now that I have said it I can more or less safely admit that my heart is bleeding when I read a torrent of press releases issued by the German manufacture.I mean, some of these models cost like a decent three-bedroom suburbian house and are still out of my reach especially now, when the global financial crisis finally starts showing its ugly face (Yeah, I think this is just the beginning of the real crisis and Greece is just one of the first real countries to call it quits on its enormous sovereign debt. God, I wish I was too pessimistic about this.) Let’s get down to business, though.The new A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Annual Calendar comes powered by their recently developed L085.1 SAX-0-MAT automatic movement. Designed and built totally in-house, decorated and assembled by hand, this terrific example of German ingenuity sports Lange’s Zero-Reset function that makes the small second hand at 6 o’clock either fall back or spring forward to zero depending whether it is between 0 and 30 or 30 and 60 seconds position.Being an Annual Calendar, the watch is capable to show current date, day of week, month and even moon phase. It is not a perpetual calendar, so you will have to adjust the watch once a year, which is, let’s face it, still rather annoying. On the other hand, a perpetual calendar with leap year function would be a lot more expensive and more demanding to proper servicing, too.The movement seats inside a rather compact white (Ref. 330.026) or pink gold (Ref. 330.032) case 38.5 mm in diameter and only 9.8 mm in height, which is really wonderful for an automatic watch.