The dial design of the RICHARD LANGE TOURBILLON “Pour le Mérite” was inspired by precision chronometer No. 93 crafted by Johann Heinrich Seyffert, a gifted watchmaker who in the late 18th century established the fundamentals of precision timekeeping in Saxony. Alexander von Humboldt, a natural scientist, expressed particular appreciation for his work and relied on his timepieces to calculate the co-ordinates of his locations during his expeditions and perform many scientific measurements.

With a fusée-and-chain transmission and a one-minute tourbillon, this watch incorporates two of the most effective complications that increase rate accuracy. Thanks to the patented stop-seconds mechanism, the tourbillon – and with it the entire movement – can be stopped and set to one-second accuracy. When it is not needed for the reading of the hour, an auxiliary pivoting-dial segment affords a view of the tourbillon. Between 6 and 12 o’clock, it pivots back to complete the hour circle with the numerals VIII, IX and X.