willem de lange

A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Tourbillon Pour le MeriteIn January, 2011 the renowned German watch Manufacture will officially reveal the new member of the highly exclusive Pour le Merite series, the A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Tourbillon Pour le Merite hand-wound watch.Available both in limited edition platinum or unlimited rose gold case, the watch will be equipped with Lange’s signature fusee-and-chain transmission.The transmission allows for more uniform transfer of energy from the mainspring barrel to the going train, but, consisting of whole 636 parts, is difficult to build and is therefore reserved only for the high-end pieces of the brand.Another interesting feature of the upcoming model is a one-minute tourbillon with stop-seconds function. Simply put, the tourbillon stops and the second hand switches to a “0″ position every time you want to adjust the watch, thus allowing for more accurate setting of the timekeeper.A. Lange & Söhne would not be true to its roots if it didn’t equip the watch with one more function, which is more about pleasing the eye, rather than about function.As you can see on the pictures, there is a cutaway at the subsidiary seconds subdial, which is located between 7 and 8 o’clock and overlaps the hours display standing between 4 and 5 o’clock.When the hour hand comes past 6 o’clock, there instantly appears a pivoting segment of the subdial with VIII, IX and X numerals printed on it. The segment stays on its place until the hour hand reaches the 12 o’clock position and then again disappears in a blink of an eye.Of course, such a complication requires a great deal of energy to accomplish four times a day, but the manufacture-made Calibre L072.1 manual-wind movement still features a pretty decent power reserve of 36 hours.Built of 351 parts (not including the fusee-and-chain mechanism,) the movement features three screwed gold chatons, Glucydur screw balance and an in-house balance spring.This relatively slow movement beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour.As usual for the German brand, the watch is supplied in a very elegant and refined case that measures 41.90 mm in diameter and only 12.20 mm high.If the timepiece was not that expensive, it would be the first on my wish list.

The unveiling of a monument to Ferdinand A. Lange by 15 apprentices of the company's own watchmaker school was the highlight of a ceremony at which Lange Uhren GmbH inaugurated the A. Lange & Sohne Park in Glash��tte on 15 July. With this, the company pays tribute to the founder of Germany's fine watchmaking industry, who opened the first watchmaker workshop in the region in 1845 with 15 apprentices. Also among the more than one hundred guests was his great grandson Walter Lange, who has carried on the family tradition since reunification, as well as the Vice President of the Saxon State Parliament, Andrea Dombois. In her word of welcome she honoured the social involvement of the company which is expressed in so many ways, even beyond the creation of highly qualified jobs. A current example is the tourist guide system for Glash��tte, recently initiated by Lange, which guides visitors to the sights of the city. The more than 3,000 square metre park was designed by the landscape architects Michael Wolf and Dirk Radzanowski from Penig in Saxony, and built by the company Gr��nkonzept from Bannewitz near Dresden. The bronze bust of Ferdinand A. Lange is the work of the Swiss sculptor, Beat K��nzler. A musical setting at the ceremony was provided by the American mezzo-soprano Emily Righter and the Italian baritone Andr�� Schuen. Both are stipendiaries of the "Young Singers Project" of the Salzburg Festival, with which the company maintains a close partnership. This coming Sunday, visitors who come to the city of Glash��tte can be the first to discover a new park abound with roses, hedges, ornamentals, and grasses. On the occasion of the summer festival organised by the S?chsische Zeitung, A. Lange & Sohne is opening the doors to its manufactory and inviting the public to get acquainted with precision watchmaking in many different ways. The planned ascents in a tethered balloon are likely to be very popular: they offer a totally new outlook on Glash��tte as a hub of horology.