LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL

The LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL was the first mechanical wristwatch to combine a perpetual calendar with the Lange outsize date. It differs from other calendar timepieces with small but subtle features such as the ZERO-RESET mechanism and a main corrector for simultaneously advancing all calendar displays. On the occasion of its 20th birthday, it now comes in white gold or pink gold, both combined with a blue dial, each in a 50-watch limited edition.

When the LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL was introduced in March 2001, it was the first and only self-winding watch with a perpetual calendar, Lange’s iconic outsize-date display, a ZERO-RESET function and a main corrector for simultaneously advancing all calendar displays. This is still true today. The development and ongoing success of this exceptional watch is credited to a highly motivated team of experts, and specifically to one gifted individual, Günter Blümlein. The co-founder and first CEO of the manufactory spared no effort to meld horological beauty and artisanal perfection. This was accomplished in a particularly impressive manner with the LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL, which was launched a few months prior to his untimely death. On the occasion of its 20th birthday, it now comes in white gold or pink gold, in limited editions of 50 watches each.

The blue dials of both new versions of the LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL are crafted from solid silver. The applied Roman numerals, underlaid with an embossed groove structure, prominently stand out against the dark background. On the white-gold model, they are made of rhodiumed gold – just like the hands, appliques and lunar disc – and of pink gold on the pink-gold version. The hands for the hours, minutes, days of the week and month are luminous, as are the hour markers along the minute scale. A dark-blue leather strap with a prong buckle in white gold or pink gold complements the harmony of the timepiece.

A perpetual calendar unlike any other

“Innovation and differentiating design elements are key parameters for us,” Günter Blümlein once said in an interview. “Our watches must be classic and understated in looks, sleek, useful, and essentially German in nature.” At A. Lange & Söhne, this ambition steadily evolved into a cultural statement that emphasises subtle differences and manifests itself in many details. The LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL lives up to these lofty expectations in every respect.

The design of the dial complies with the principle of information hierarchy, assuring the best and most intuitive legibility of the calendar displays. As the most important information element, the outsize date is prominently positioned. The subsidiary dial on the left shows the day of the week; the one on the right displays the month. The perpetual calendar takes into account the different durations of the months in a four-year cycle, including those of the leap years. Once the watch is correctly set, a manual adjustment of the date is not needed until the year 2100. The moon-phase display at 6 o’clock, paired with the subsidiary seconds dial, is also a long-term indication; it only requires a correction of one day every 122.6 years. All calendar displays can be advanced collectively with a (recessed) main corrector at 10 o’clock. They can also be set separately.

Horological artistry with automatic winding

The self-winding L922.1 Sax-0-Mat calibre features the ZERO-RESET mechanism developed by Lange. When the crown is pulled, the balance wheel stops and the seconds hand jumps to the zero position. This simplifies and speeds up time setting. The bidirectionally winding rotor ensures that the maximum power reserve of 46 hours is attained within just a short time on the wrist. Integrated in the three-quarter plate, it consists of 21-carat gold with a centrifugal mass in platinum. This makes the escapement with hand-engraved balance cock and classic whiplash precision index adjuster readily visible.

Thanks to a movement height of merely 5.7 millimetres, the watch has a very slender silhouette. The case has a diameter of 38.5 millimetres and a height of just 10.2 millimetres. Artisanal perfection down to the smallest detail makes the LANGEMATIK PERPETUAL an horological work of art for perpetuity. Not visible but tangible is the uncompromising benchmark of quality expressed by the two-fold assembly of all Lange manufacture calibres.