A shining example of A. Lange & Söhne watchmaking artistry
25 years after the launch of the DATOGRAPH, A. Lange & Söhne introduces a bold new interpretation: the DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen”. At Watches and Wonders 2024, the timepiece combining a flyback chronograph with a precisely jumping minute counter, perpetual calendar with outsize date, and tourbillon with a stop-seconds mechanism will be presented for the first time in Lange-exclusive honey gold (HONEYGOLD®) and as a “Lumen” version, limited to 50 watches.
Introduced in 2016, the DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON featuring three eponymous complications occupies a pre-eminent position in precision watchmaking. The DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen” now also exhibits its technical finesse and design assets in the dark.
Three sophisticated complications with distinctive additional functions
The following complications make this timepiece into a comprehensive work of art:
The first part of its name, DATOGRAPH, designates a flyback chronograph with the Lange outsize date. The flyback mechanism allows quick consecutive time measurements because the three switching steps stop, reset to zero and start are executed with a single actuation of a pusher. The minute counter assures unambiguous readings of stopped times at any given time: it jumps to the next increment at the precise moment when the chrono seconds hand completes the 60th second.
The second component of its name, PERPETUAL, refers to the perpetual calendar with its instantaneously switching displays. With a view to long-term time measurement, it is based on the Gregorian calendar and takes into account the different durations of the months, including leap-year deviations.
The rapid-correction pusher at 10 o’clock can be used to simultaneously advance all calendar displays by one day. Three correctors on the flank of the case make it possible to separately adjust the moon-phase display, the day of the week, the month and the leap year.
The attribute TOURBILLON refers to the one-minute tourbillon with a stop-seconds mechanism; it offsets the influence of gravity on the going train. Once a minute, it rotates the rate-governing components ‒ balance, lever and escape wheel ‒ inside a filigreed cage about its own axis around the stationary fourth wheel. The highly aesthetic and horologically intricate device improves rate accuracy of mechanical timepieces.
More than 200 years after the tourbillon was invented, A. Lange & Söhne presented its stop-seconds mechanism in 2008, taking a huge step towards optimising this device. It made it possible to stop the tourbillon at will and set the watch to one-second accuracy for the very first time, regardless of the angular position of the balance or the orientation of the tourbillon cage.
Aesthetics of form and function
Not only does the DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen” distinguish itself thanks to its ingenuous mechanisms but also because of the lucid arrangement of the displays, translating technical finesse into an exceptional design language.
Comprising an equilateral triangle formed by the Lange outsize date in a framed twin aperture and the two subsidiary dials, the dial architecture is a well-organised model of clarity, despite the abundance of displays. The subsidiary seconds dial, the day of the week and the day/night indicator are located on the left-hand side, while the precisely jumping minute counter, the month and the leap year can be found on the right. The moon-phase display at 6 o’clock is harmoniously embedded in the ensemble.
Radiant elegance ‒ by day and night
The DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen” also reveals its radiant personality in the dark ‒ thanks to the semi-transparent dial and the luminous coating that make the displays and functions glow. The darker the surroundings, the more prominent the luminous elements appear.
The luminous outsize date, a distinctive highlight, first featured in the GRAND LANGE 1 “Lumen” in 2013, rendering the ingenious disc mechanism visible. Guaranteeing that the outsize date display also glows just after the daily switching sequence, presented a considerable challenge. In typical Lange fashion, the solution was found: the tens cross and units disc are coated with a luminous compound and printed with black numerals, making it possible to closely observe the illustrious date switching performance at midnight.
Doubly exclusive: 18-carat HONEYGOLD® and “Lumen”
The DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen” is the sixth model of the limited “Lumen” edition, and subsequent to the ZEITWERK HONEYGOLD “Lumen” launched in 2021, only the second model that combines the particular hardness and incomparable resplendence of honey gold with the luminous “Lumen” coating.
Manufacture calibre L952.4
The evolved manufacture calibre L952.4 beats at the heart of the DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL TOURBILLON HONEYGOLD “Lumen”: it consists of 684 parts and is assembled twice. The classic column-wheel chronograph is equipped with a freely oscillating Lange balance spring as well as a Lange balance wheel with eccentric poising weights, assuring excellent rate stability across the entire power reserve of 50 hours. It is calibrated to a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), allowing measurements with an accuracy of one fifth of a second ‒ in the light of the minute scale featuring an impressive total of 300 markers.
Typical Lange quality hallmarks such as bridges made of untreated German silver, chamfered and polished edges, gold chatons and blued screws can be admired through the sapphire-crystal caseback.
Explore further
Models of the SAXONIA family
How can we be of service?
Whether you are in search of a specific model, have questions out of interest or need a service request for your timepiece – we are delighted to help you. We are at your service by phone, email or in one of our boutiques.
