Traditional watchmaking artistry and contemporary design.
The LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen” incorporates two grand complications into the unmistakeable design of the LANGE 1: a tourbillon with stop seconds as well as a perpetual calendar with a peripheral month ring and instantaneously switching displays. All indications are also legible in the dark. Thanks to the effective staging of larger and more subtle luminous elements, the watch is endowed with a radiant elegance. The newly developed, highly complex manufacture calibre L225.1 can be admired through the dial and caseback of the timepiece.
Unmistakeable – by day and by night
In a refined manner, the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen” incorporates a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar into the unmistakeable design of the LANGE 1, whose off-centre dial configuration is prominent yet at the same time harmonious. The displays are arranged in the form of an isosceles triangle: an imaginary vertical line connects outsize date, retrograde day-of-week display as well as the seconds hand and the moon-phase display. The centre of the hour and minute display marks the tip of the triangle. Contrary to conventional constructions, the months are displayed on a rotating circumferential ring. The leap-year display is located in a small aperture at 6 o’clock.
All calendar indications switch instantaneously to produce unambiguous readings at all times. The switching sequences can be conveniently handled jointly or separately with correctors on the exterior of the case. Assuming the watch runs without interruption, the calendar indications must be corrected by hand for the first time on 1 March in 2100, a secular year.
Contrast and transparency
Apart from its remarkable geometry, the design language of the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen” is based on two additional superordinate principles: contrast and transparency. Hence, the light-coloured, gleaming platinum case contrasts crisply with the dark dial and the black, hand-stitched alligator leather strap. On the dial, hands and appliques in rhodiumed gold and white scales against a dark background assure superb legibility. The principle of contrast is reiterated in the movement where polished light surfaces alternate with matted or darker ones.
Simultaneously, the transparency of the dial constitutes a constructive necessity. It allows the passage of energy-rich UV light that continuously charges the luminous compound of the underlying displays and causes them to glow in the dark. The exceptional dial and the luminous elements make this timepiece into a shining example of Lange watchmaking artistry ‒ by day and by night.
Luminescence – new elegance
All displays of the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen” are luminous and therefore also provide unambiguous readings in the dark. The meticulously orchestrated interplay of larger and more filigreed surfaces creates an elegant, nuanced ambience of light. The implementation of each individual “Lumen”-display is based on an innovative, complex dial architecture.
The radiant highlight, the luminous outsize date, makes the sophisticated mechanism consisting of a tens cross and a units disc visible in the dark. Moreover, the first luminous moon-phase display with an integrated day/night indication premieres in this watch. A celestial disc that rotates clockwise once during 24 hours forms the backdrop for the lunar orbit. During the day, a light sky without stars can be perceived ‒ at night, a dark sky studded with a multitude of luminous stars. In front of the celestial disc, the precise waxing and waning of the earth’s companion can be observed while it slowly traverses the sky. The display deviates from the true position of the moon by only one day after 122.6 years.
The leap-year display at 6 o’clock is also coated with a luminous compound, resulting in the same pronounced two-dimensional intensity of the outsize date. The hands indicating the hours, minutes, seconds and day of the week, as well as all scales, appliques and contours of the moon, are significantly more delicate in terms of their luminescence.
Artisanal virtuosity made visible
Thanks to the semi-transparent dial, the movement with its complex calendar mechanism and cornucopia of meticulously finished individual parts can be admired. For instance, the large plates decorated with perlage, the bridges with artistic solarisation, the levers adorned with precise straight graining as well as the toothed wheels embellished with circular graining can be appreciated close-up. Together with the chamfered edges, they are testament to the high standards with regard to artisanal finish. Additionally, the colour palette of the materials deployed provides aesthetic accents.
Tourbillon – beyond precision
On the dial side, only a subtle inscription at 12 o’clock offers a clue as to which grand complication lies concealed within the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen”: the tourbillon. Only at a glance through the sapphire-crystal caseback, the refined mechanism is revealed in all its technical splendour. Once a minute, the filigreed carriage rotates about its own axis, thus compensating for the influence of gravity on the balance with eccentric poising weights. Combined with the balance spring crafted in-house, it guarantees the ultimate precision. Both components are perfectly matched and assure superior rate accuracy of the movement that operates at a frequency of 21.600 semi-oscillations per hour.
The stop-seconds device allows to immediately halt the balance within the tourbillon cage at will by pulling the crown. This makes it possible to set a tourbillon watch with one-second accuracy, thanks to a sophisticated construction with a V-shaped arresting spring for which the manufacture was granted a patent in 2008.
Extreme complexity – peerless finish
Down to the last detail, the new self-winding manufacture calibre L225.1 was developed in accordance with the highest standards to which A. Lange & Söhne is committed. Its constructive complexity makes it possible to unite a tourbillon, perpetual calendar and a moon-phase display – and to furthermore equip the watch with functional particularities such as a stop-seconds mechanism and the outsize date. The refined composition of lavish decorations emphasises the manufacturer’s quest for perfection.
The artisanal virtuosity manifests itself especially in the tourbillon cage as well as the tourbillon cock and the intermediate-wheel cock. They are crafted from stainless steel and exhibit one of the most elaborate finishing techniques: black polish. This technique involves using special abrasive pastes and uniformly sliding the workpiece with just the right pressure across a tin plate by hand until the surface reflects the light like a mirror when viewed from a certain angle. And from another perspective, it has a jet-black sheen. All the edges are chamfered and polished. One of the greatest challenges is finishing the internal angles: this requires extreme meticulousness and a steady hand.
A central rotor, crafted from 18-carat white gold (750) for the first time, bears the A. Lange & Söhne signature and assures efficient winding. The external centrifugal mass in 950 platinum provides additional momentum, making a maximum power reserve of 50 hours available after only a short time on the wrist. The rotor also adopts the design principle of colour contrast, implemented in the dark, black-rhodiumed central segment and the lighter surface of the centrifugal mass.
Furthermore, the tourbillon cock and the intermediate-wheel cock are embellished with small stars and a shooting star. They are engraved by hand and then circumspectly polished, creating a richly contrasting transition between the matted surroundings and the gleaming engravings. In the centre of the tourbillon, a diamond endstone secured by a screwed gold chaton provides another striking focal point. The traditional element that A. Lange & Söhne once equipped the most precious 1A-quality pocket watches with represents the lustrous highlight of this precision mechanical masterpiece.
With a case diameter of 41.9 millimetres and a height of 13.0 millimetres, the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON PERPETUAL CALENDAR “Lumen” is worn on a black alligator leather strap with a deployant quick-lock buckle in 950 platinum.