German watch brand A Lange & Söhne wows the watch-collecting community this year with its first highly classical-looking Richard Lange Minute Repeater. Crafted in platinum with a white-enamel and white-gold dial, the watch chimes the hours, quarter-hours and minutes. It is powered by a new hand-wound mechanical movement with 191 individually hand-finished pieces that work together seamlessly. The watch even skips the pause found in most minute repeaters that comes between the hour and minute strike when there is no quarter-hour double-strike tone. Just 50 pieces will be made.
Details
Price ($) | 410,000 |
Price range | $400,000 - $500,000 |
Gender | Male |
Case | Round |
Complications | Hours Small Seconds Minutes |
Water resistance | 20m |
Movement | Manual |
Power reserve range (hours) | 49 - 72 |
Power reserve | 72 hours |
Case size | Medium (31mm - 39mm) |
Case diameter (mm) | 39 |
Case height (mm) | 10 |
Case back | Open |
Case colour | Platinum |
Case material | Platinum |
Dial colour | White |
Dial material | Gold Enamel |
Limited edition | Limited edition |
Where to buy | A Lange & Söhne in New York |
Caliber | L122.1 |
ReferenceNumber | 606.079 |
A Lange & Söhne showcases the supreme of German horology. Originally founded in 1845, the watchmaker persevered through Soviet nationalization, its trademark resurfacing in 1990 when it was realized and re-registered by Walter Lange. Early patrons and owners of its timepieces reflect the high regard in which the brand is held, having been worn by men of great prominence including the German Emperor Wilhelm II and Alexander II of Russia.Some of its most famous collections include the Lange 1 and Zeitwerk lines which assure the most intricate of assembly and finishing techniques, as well as carry the brand's distinctive outsize date which is three times the scope as those in watches of comparable dimensions. Recently sprung from the Zeitwerk family is the Minute Repeater piece which, melodically keeping time, is the first mechanical wristwatch to possess a jumping numeral display and decimal minute recurrence. The intricate ticking sounding from this timepiece mirrors the complexity of the watch itself, which is fashioned from 191 individually hand-finished fragments.