THE PRECISION OF A LANGE MOVEMENT. AND ITS ARCHITECTS.

The initial assembly of a movement is a complex act of horological creation in which the interaction of all mechanical parts is perfectly tuned and adjusted. Only if they harmonise flawlessly will the watch indicate the time with utmost precision year after year.

Accordingly, the initial assembly process plays an important role at Lange. It takes place in consecutive steps during which specially trained watchmakers first construct subassemblies – such as the winding mechanism or the wheel train – with specific groups of parts. Afterwards, the subassemblies are put together to form a precisely functioning movement.
Initial assembly of a Lange movement

EXTREME PRECISION – A MATTER OF VIRTUOSITY.

Only particularly steady hands can assemble the escapement and the balance, the heart of a mechanical watch. This elaborate process not only involves the setting of the levers and the adjustment of the entry and exit pallets but also includes the determination of the active length and the bending of the overcoil of the hairsprings that are manufac-tured in-house by Lange. Because of the visual acuity and the exceptional hand-eye co-ordination needed to perform this type of work on the heart of a mechanical watch, the specialists entrusted with these tasks are fondly referred to as “heart surgeons”.

Balance

PRECISION ADJUSTMENT IN FIVE POSITIONS.

As soon as the assembly of the movement has been completed, it is handed over to the experts in the reglage department. This is where the balance is adjusted in five positions: with the dial up and down as well as with the crown up, down, and on the right side. The adjust-ments are performed by placing tiny washers underneath the small screws on the balance-wheel rim or by shaving off infinitesimally small slivers of metal from the screw heads to alter the moment of inertia and thus the duration of the oscillations of the balance by a nuance.

Assembly of the perpetual calendar

THE ASSEMBLY OF COMPLICATIONS.

One of the most formidable challenges involved in the initial assembly of a movement is the adjustment and tuning of the complications. Highly specialised watchmakers are entrusted with the assembly of the 66-part Lange outsize date and with the even more complex per-petual calendar mechanism. Other teams of experts have the sole task of mounting chronograph mechanisms onto the already adjusted basic movements. And a small team of elite watchmakers is devoted exclu-sively to the apotheosis of precision watchmaking: the assembly of the tourbillon.

CONTINUE THE MANUFACTORY TOUR IN THE NEXT WORKSTATION
Movie about initial assembly

LOOK OVER THE WATCHMAKER’S SHOULDER

Using the 1815 by A. Lange & Söhne as an example, the assembly and disassembly of the winding mechanism, going train, escapement, and three-quarter plate is shown.

ASSEMBLY OF THE WINDING MECHANISM (WMV 82.0 MB)
ASSEMBLY OF THE GOING TRAIN (WMV 31.0 MB)
ASSEMBLY OF THE ESCAPEMENT (WMV 57.0 MB)
ASSEMBLY OF THE THREE-QUARTER PLATE (WMV 70.0 MB)