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New Pink Gold Dial Transforms the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual

    A. Lange & Söhne surprised many earlier this summer when it introduced new colors to two of its best-known complicated models.

    The Glashütte-based manufacturer applied a platinum case to its famed Lange 1 Time Zone while also adding a stunning pink gold dial to its 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar in a white gold case. 

    Here, we’ll look at the latter model with its visually transformative new dial hue.

    The newest A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, now in a white gold case with a pink gold dial.

     

    The 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar’s dimensions, movement and technical details remain as impressive they were when the piece debuted ten years ago when it won the Grand Complications award at the 2013 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in Geneva.

    We’ve seen the dial color and case metal combination here previously when the watchmaker offered the design on its Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon (2019) and its Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar (2021).

    The look is almost vintage, especially when eyeing the dial’s very traditional railway minute scale and its classical four-subdial layout.

    And this make perfect sense since A. Lange & Söhne designers meant to recall the dials of earlier Lange pocket watches. Thus, we see the combined calendar at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions while the left subsidiary dial shows the date and day of the week and the right displays the month and leap year.

    At the same time, we see the expressive moon phase display within the subsidiary seconds display at 6 o’clock and the minute counter and power-reserve indicator at the top of the dial.

    The beautiful display continues on the back of the watch with a clear view of the watchmaker’s spectacular manual-wind L101.1 movement with its clearly visible rattrapante mechanism and superior finishing. Stunning.

    A.Lange & Sohne will make 100 examples of the new 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar. 

    Price on Request.

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    A. Lange & Söhne Updates Zeitwerk

    A.Lange & Söhne updates its Zeitwerk mechanical digital watch with a new manual-wind movement that offers seventy-two hours of power reserve, twice the power reserve of its predecessor, and adds a new pusher at 4 o’clock that can independently advance the hour display.

    The new A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk is offered in a pink gold or a platinum case.

    First seen in the Zeitwerk Date, the new hour pusher is particularly useful when crossing into a new time zone while wearing the watch. The wearer still sets the minutes using the crown. The increased power reserve of the new manual-winding caliber L043.6 is derived from a new, highly efficient dual mainspring.

    The Zeitwerlk’s new manufacture caliber L043.6

    The watchmaker has also subtly reworked the prominent ‘time bridge’ across the center of the dial, creating more room for the subsidiary seconds dial at the 6 o’clock position.

     

    Also, you’ll see an addition to the power reserve indicator scale at the top of the dial, which now marks the final twelve hours in red to clearly indicate that the dual mainspring tension is gradually waning.

     

    Constant force

    A. Lange & Söhne created the Zeitwerk in 2009 as a wrist-sized version of a five-minute clock at the Semper Opera House in Dresden. A world-first, the watch debuted large jumping numerals for the hours and minutes, both controlled by a constant-force escapement. (The A. Lange & Söhne website offers a full technical description of the new Zeitwerk movement).

     

    The beautifully finished 451-part movement is visible through a clear sapphire caseback. which reveals a traditional three-quarter movement plate and the watchmaker’s always breathtaking hand-engraved balance and escape-wheel cocks.

     

    Now slightly thinner than its predecessor, the new A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk measures 41.9mm by 12.2mm and will be sold in two versions. One will be pink gold with a black dial and a time bridge made of untreated German silver.

     

    The platinum edition has a silver rhodium-hued dial with a black time bridge. The pink-gold model come with a black alligator leather strap while the platinum version is paired with a dark-brown alligator leather strap. Price upon request. 

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    Wempe Celebrates Albers in New York With Watch Exhibition

    Watch and jewelry retailer Wempe celebrates the 35th anniversary of its U.S. President Ruediger “Rudy” Albers with a special exhibition of watches from Wempe’s museum collection in Hamburg. 

    On exhibit during October at Wempe in New York, the celebratory selection includes vintage Wempe timepieces, watches from the 1980s and co-branded limited editions.

    Wempe collaborations with Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Chopard.

    Albers started his tenure with the German-based retailer in 1987 as a master watchmaker at the Wempe store in Hamburg and transferred to its New York location a year later.

    Ruediger ‘Rudy’ Albers, President of Wempe U.S.

    Named president of Wempe U.S. in 2002, Albers has been instrumental in the long-running success of Wempe in the United States. The retailer in the U.S. earns more than 100 million dollars in annual sales and has been the company’s top boutique worldwide for the past twenty-five years.

    Inside the Wempe-operated Rolex boutique in New York.

    Under Albers’ leadership the U.S. arm of the brand has launched an ecommerce platform and has expanded its New York boutique three times to create its current 5,500-square-feet space on Fifth Avenue. In addition, Albers spearheaded the opening of the first Rolex stand-alone U.S. boutique in 2012. Operated by Wempe, the store is inside the Rolex Building in New York, also on Fifth Avenue.

    Wempe Vintage stainless steel, antimagnetic wristwatch with blue-green center gradient dial.

    “Rudy is simply the heart of Wempe New York,” says Kim-Eva Wempe, Owner and Managing Director of Wempe Jewelers. “He has the keen ability to make anyone walking through the door feel like family and leads his team, many of whom have been with him for at least a decade, some even two, in that same manner.”

    Wempe Vintage Sea-Cup, automatic, anti-magnetic, and shock-resistant stainless steel diving watch with a second crown to set diving time on a diving bezel inside of the case.

    The celebratory watches on exhibit at Wempe include timepieces from Patek Philippe, Chopard, A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier and Wempe.

    Wempe Vintage Zeitmeister stainless steel manual chronograph with silver dial.
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    A. Lange & Söhne Creates 1815 Chronograph for Charity Auction

    A. Lange & Söhne has created a unique 1815 Chronograph Hampton Court Edition dedicated to raise funds for The Prince’s Trust, an educational and employment charity, when it is sold during a Phillips auction on November 6.

    The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph “Hampton Court Edition”, ref. 414.047.
    The unique piece will be auctioned off for a good cause after the Concours of Elegance 2022.

    The one-off watch will debut officially during this year’s Concours of Elegance, to be held September 2 to September 4 at Hampton Court near London. The new watch combines several unique features previously not seen within the 1815 collection. 

    The 39.5mm by 11.8mm watch offers a first-ever black dial with sandstone-hue numerals and scales within a white gold case. Also new is the tachometer scale along the edge of the dial, created to underscore the link between motor sports and time measurement. Previous 1815 Chronographs feature a pulsometer scale around the dial.

    The piece is held to the wrist with a black hand-stitched alligator leather strap secured with a white gold prong buckle.

     

    The Glashütte-based watchmaker has fashioned a hinged back cover for the watch, which it has hand-engraved with the logo of the Concours of Elegance, a partner with A. Lange & Söhne since 2018.

    Under the cover and dial you’ll find a Lange caliber L951.5 movement, initially launched in 2010, featuring a column-wheel control, a jumping minute counter and a flyback function. The manually wound caliber has a power reserve of sixty hours.

    As is always the case with this watchmaker, the movement itself is as lavishly  decorated and finished as the dial and case. The caliber’s eye-catching, multi-level architecture is fully visible through the sapphire back and exhibits the chronograph’s switching processes. Notable, as ever, is the Lange hand-engraved balance cock. Click here for more details about the watch, the charity and the auction. 

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    A. Lange & Söhne Cases 1815 Rattrapante in Platinum

    A. Lange & Söhne releases its 1815 Rattrapante with a platinum case, adding a new look to the highly complex chronograph with split-seconds mechanism. The German watchmaker had previously offered the watch, its first pure split-seconds model, only cased in its own Honey Gold alloy.

    The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante, now in platinum.

    The new look also provides a bright silver dial and dark blued hands that add a regal air to the watch. The watch’s classical railway-track minute scale and the large Arabic numerals retain watchmaker’s own historic style, especially apt for a collection named for the birth year of its founder Ferdinand A. Lange.

    While the dial appears traditional, its layout is somewhat unusual for an A. Lange & Söhne chronograph. Watchmakers opted to place the 30-minute counter and the subsidiary seconds dial at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock, respectively, on the vertical center axis, veering from the more traditional positions at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock.

    The watchmaker’s beautifully decorated caliber L101.2, fully visible through the sapphire-crystal caseback, treats the wearer to a micro-engineered show as gears and levers slide and click through elapsed and lap-time measurements, a display centered on the movement’s two column wheels. (See specifications below for details).

    A. Lange & Söhne equips the movement with bridges and cocks made of untreated German silver, a screw balance, screwed gold chatons that secure the jewels and a hand-engraved balance cock. And of course all the levers, springs and jumpers are decorated with straight graining while all peripheral chamfers are polished.

    A. Lange & Söhne will make the 1815 Rattrapante with a platinum case as a limited edition of 200 pieces. Price: Initially listed at $154,200, the price is now upon request.

     

    Specifications: A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante

    (Ref. 425.025, 200-piece limited edition)

    Movement: Lange manufacture caliber L101.2, manually wound, decorated and assembled by hand; precision-adjusted in five positions; plates made of untreated German silver; balance cock and chronograph bridge engraved by hand. Shock-resistant screw balance; balance spring crafted in-house, frequency 21,600 vph, precision-beat adjustment system with lateral setscrew and whiplash spring. Power reserve is 58 hours when fully wound.

    Case: 41.2 mm by 12.6mm platinum. Crown for winding the watch and setting the time, two chronograph pushers, one pusher to operate the rattrapante (split-second) mechanism.

    Dial: Solid silver.

    Strap: Hand-stitched black alligator leather with platinum buckle.

    Price: Initially listed at $154,200, the price is now upon request.

     

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