A Lange & Sohne Blue Watches

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.

Launched in 1845 by a young enthusiast watchmaker- Ferdinand Adolph Lange in a small German town, near Dresden, A. Lange & Sohne (A Lange & Sons) became the pinnacle of today's German finest watch-*** industry, and earned a well established place among the world's prestigious watch-*** powerhouses, due to its commitment to creating impeccable timepieces of timeless beauty and mechanical perfection. A. Lange & Sohne faced extinction when, the post World War II, Soviet administration expropriated the founders in 1848, but after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, in 1990s, with the help of a renowned family of Swiss watch manufacturers, the IWC group, parented by Richemont, A. Lange & Sohne lived to see another day and ever since continually improved and innovated its concepts, becoming a respected member of the Haute Horology, a watch-*** brand which sells its products for prices equaling those of Swiss top brands as Vacheron Constantine, Audemars Piguet, Breguet or Patek Philippe.A. Lange & Sohne brings to life another exquisite timepiece, the Cabaret Tourbillon Watch- a sophisticated model which combines the classy elegance of a rectangular case manufactured either from platinum or pink gold (measuring 29.5 x 39.2 mm) with the fascinating tourbillon complication which features a one-of-a-kind stop-seconds function incorporated. Animated by a sophisticated manually wound A. Lange & Sohne Caliber L042.1, this classy timepiece ensures minutes, hours, small seconds and power reserve indicators, a remarkable power reserve of 5 days (120 hours when fully wound). The intricate architecture of the watch's movement meets the brand's highest quality standards, and due to a sapphire crystal case-back it becomes a true feast for a curious eye. Its three-quarter plate was manufactured from German untreated silver and furthermore it is accented by 6 screwed gold chatons placed on the hand-engraved intermediary wheel, tourbillon-cocks and dial-side Tourbillon Bridge. Along with 45 ruby jewels, two diamonds serving as end-stoned for the pivots of the balance-wheel stand as a proof of A. Lange & Sohne's horological excellence.The classy refinement of the watch's dial instantaneously draws attention to the tourbillon cage located at 6 o'clock, balanced with an emblematic A. Lange & Sohne, oversized double date aperture located at 12 o'clock position which harmoniously balances the entire design of the dial; moreover this elegant innovative model is completed by a crocodile leather strap and it has an estimated price range between $120,000.00 up to $180,000.00. A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Watch Pictures Gallery A. Lange & Sohne Innovative Cabaret Tourbillon , 7.8 out of 10 based on 4 ratings