Zeitwerk

A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Striking Time Watch Hands-On

One of the most interesting "evolutionary" watches from A. Lange & Sohne in 2011 is this Zeitwerk Striking Time. I call it an evolutionary piece as it builds on the original Zeitwerk by adding a striking mechanism. What that does it automatically sound a special chime on the hour and at each quarter hour mark. Basically the hammers seen on the front of the dial strike the gong that goes around the dial each fifteen minutes. Watches with hammers and gongs on the dial are very very rare - and that is perhaps one of the coolest features of this watch.

Tags: lange, review, sohne, striking time, watch, zeitwerk

A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Luminous Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Last year's awesome watch from German A. Lange & Sohne was the Lange Zeitwerk. A mechanical digital watch with jumping indicators for the minutes and hours. Style was totally retro cool, and the mechanics needed to make it work are much more difficult than you can fathom. One thing many people wanted the watch to have was luminous markers. But this was thought impossible given that they could not be charged by the light being hidden under the dial. Well the creative thinkers at Lange found a solution, and they have implemented it here in the new Lange Zeitwerk Luminous watch.

Basically they made the dial out of a tinted (smoked) sapphire crystal. The numerals all have luminant applied to them. The sapphire part of the dial is made so that it is not totally transparent, but light can enter easily to charge the luminant. When the indicators are displayed in the digital windows, they should be able to charge enough, provided that the watch has been exposed to enough light. Thus you have a lume version of the Lange Zeitwerk - clever.

Aside from that the watch retains the features that we love about standard Zeitwerk. It comes in a 42mm wide case in platinum and is part of a limited edition of just 100 pieces. Movement is the highly complex manually wound in-house made A. Lange & Sohne Caliber L043.1, with its double constant force escapements. Functions include the hours and minutes digitally, with a subsidiary seconds dial and a power reserve indicator. A beautiful watch with a great appeal somewhere between luxury gadget and traditional fine timepiece. Price is $91,200, and the watch is in platinum as mentioned.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Lange Zeitwerk Luminous

Tags: 2010, A Lange Sohne, ALangeSohne, Luminous, SIHH, watch, Zeitwerk

A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Watch Wins Top Prize At The Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève 2009

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I knew that the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk watch had a lot going for it. When it was announced several months ago in May, I was sure that Lange was doing things right. Oddly enough, its parent company Richemont Group did not. Even though the brand has an almost fanatical following and continues to win award after award (for both the company and their products), there was enough tension over profits between former CEO Fabian Krone and Richemont Group corporate to lead to the former CEO's resignation. Shame that Richemont didn't value the skill and determination of the brand.

Like Zeitwerk... I mean clockwork, A. Lange & Sohne has won yet another award for their watches. The result of this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève has the Lange Zeitwerk watch winning the "Golden Hand" award. Roughly making it the top watch of the year. Through the various categories, this is the ideal award that any watch maker can strive to achieve for this highly watched annual horological recognition event.

The Lange Zeitwerk watch is a mechanical masterpiece that combines modern and traditional watch making. The dial shows the time digitally via two windows and has a analog subsidiary seconds dial and power reserve indicator. Prices for the watches average about $55,000 - $76,000 (gold and then platinum).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2009, a lange sohne, ALangeSohne, award, geneva, geneve, grand prix dhorlogerie, GrandPrixDhorlogerie, watch, zeitwerk