Time well spent

The festive season has an abundance of special moments shared with friends and our loved ones. We can look back on our joint achievements and look forward to future experiences and successes. The artisanal perfection of A. Lange & Söhne timepieces reflect what we value most during this peaceful, celebratory season: the preciousness of time.

The LANGE 1 – the celebration of watchmaking artistry

Seldom were higher expectations placed in a watch than in the LANGE 1. It was the first A. Lange & Söhne timepiece to premiere in 1994, four years after the re-establishment of the manufacture. With traditional elements of Saxon precision watchmaking such as the three-quarter plate, screwed gold chatons and the screw balance on the one hand, and trailblazing innovations such as the off-centre dial configuration and novel outsize date on the other hand, it became the epitome of Lange watchmaking artistry.

The off-centre dial displays, characteristic of the multiple award-winning model, follow the harmonious rules of the golden ratio: no display overlaps another, thus assuring superb legibility at any given time. A further significant hallmark of the LANGE 1 is the outsize date, a typical A. Lange & Söhne complication, inspired by a historic masterpiece of Saxon watchmaking – the famous Five-Minute Clock in the Dresden Semper Opera.

Since 2015, the manufacture calibre L121.1. has been at the heart of the LANGE 1. The manually wound movement assures that the instantaneously advancing outsize date display switches promptly at midnight. The energy for the switching action is continuously built up over the course of several hours. The LANGE 1 is also equipped with a going train featuring a balance wheel with eccentric poising weights, and beneath the hand-engraved balance cock, a freely oscillating balance spring crafted in-house. The reliable twin mainspring barrel provides a power reserve of 72 hours.

The LANGE 1 is available in 950 platinum or 18-carat gold. The warm-hued model version in pink gold reflects the lustre and festive spirit that lives at the heart of the season.

The 1815 ANNUAL CALENDAR – a stylish companion throughout the year

Surrounded by friends and loved ones, it is our wish to fully enjoy the holiday season with its quiet, contemplative moments, yet at some point, we will undoubtedly find ourselves back in our everyday life with commitments and a busy schedule. The 1815 ANNUAL CALENDAR is the perfect, elegant companion to take us through the year in style. The hands make the displays for the date, day of the week and month easy to read – ensuring that we never lose track of important appointments. An elaborate calendar mechanism automatically recognises which months have 30 and 31 days. The display must be manually adjusted only once a year, at the transition from the last day of February to the first day of March. Accurate to 122.6 years, the moon-phase display tracks the orbit of the golden celestial body across the nocturnal star-studded sky.

Not only does the 1815 ANNUAL CALENDAR leave a lasting impression thanks to its technical intricacy but also because of its lucid arrangement of the displays on the argenté-coloured dial. With the traditional railway-track minute scale, Arabic numerals and the axially symmetric configuration of the three auxiliary dials, it represents a subtle tribute to Ferdinand Adolph Lange, whose birth year is part of the watch family’s name. This also holds true for the manually wound calibre L051.3: its particular highlights can be admired through the transparent sapphire-crystal caseback of the watch in resplendent pink gold. The pursuit of artisanal perfection pertaining to even the smallest details – once Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s driving force – comes to the fore in the elaborately finished, manually crafted movement that is assembled twice; it also confers the distinctive radiance upon the contemporary masterpieces of the Saxon manufacture.

“It is our manufacture’s aspiration to never stand still. But in order to proceed in the right direction, it is sometimes necessary to briefly pause and consider,” explains Lange-CEO Wilhelm Schmid. “During the holiday season, many people take the time to reflect and ask themselves: what are my origins and where am I heading? Both timepieces are an expression of these two concepts: whereas, in a unique way, the 1815 ANNUAL CALENDAR is emblematic of watchmaking traditions in which we are rooted, the LANGE 1 is a symbol of a new beginning that still sets our course today.”