Chiming mechanism

Chiming mechanisms make it possible to hear the time. They pose great challenges for watchmakers: The gongs need enough room for oscillating while the striking mechanism consumes part of the timepiece’s energy.

THE STRIKING MECHANISMS OF THE ZEITWERK WATCH FAMILY

VISIBLE PRE-STRIKE COCKING

The mainspring barrel of the ZEITWERK delivers the ample power needed to advance the numeral discs. In the ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME and the ZEITWERK DECIMAL STRIKE HONEYGOLD, a part of this energy is used to power the striking mechanism. Every time a numeral disc advances, the hammer that will execute the next strike visibly moves up a fraction of the way toward the centre of the watch. This gradually tensions the spring that triggers the impact of the hammer against the gong.

The striking mechanism of the ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME is activated by a three-pronged snail (1). The three prongs control the mechanism of the quarter-hour hammer (2a) on the right-hand side. Below it lies a fourth prong for the hour hammer (2b) on the left-hand side. Powered by the switching impulses of the jumping numerals mechanism, the snail rotates about its own axis by 60 small steps in the course of an hour. During this phase, one of the four prongs deflects its hammer via a lever (3a, 3b), thus tensioning its respective spring. Precisely every quarter-hour and hour, the respective lever crosses over the apex of its prong and allows the spring to trip the hammer against its gong (4a, 4b).

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The ZEITWERK DECIMAL STRIKE HONEYGOLD features a five-pronged snail instead of the three-pronged version. It assures that the right-hand hammer strikes five instead of three times: at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes. At 60 minutes, i.e. at the top of the hour, the strike is executed by the hour hammer.

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COMPLICATIONS

OUTSIZE DATE

The A. Lange & Söhne outsize date enables a date display with digits around three times as large as those in watches of comparable dimensions.

CHRONOGRAPH

Chronographs and their manufacture movements have been flagship products of A. Lange & Söhne since 1999.

CALENDAR FUNCTION

Lange models incorporate either annual calendars or perpetual calendars.

MOON-PHASE DISPLAY

Most of our moon-phase displays reproduce the moon’s orbit with a precision of 99.998 per cent.

POWER-RESERVE INDICATOR

The UP/DOWN display reminds the owner to rewind the watch before it stops running.

TOURBILLON WATCHES

The tourbillon improves the rate accuracy of a mechanical timepiece by overcoming the influence of gravity on the running of a watch.

ZERO-RESET MECHANISM

With the ZERO-RESET mechanism, the movement stops and the seconds hand jumps to zero when the crown is pulled.

THE FUSÉE-AND-CHAIN TRANSMISSION

The fusée-and-chain transmission is one of the most effective complications when it comes to increasing the rate accuracy of a mechanical watch.

CONSTANT-FORCE ESCAPEMENT

The purpose of a constant-force escapement in a mechanical watch is to provide the escapement with a consistent flow of power, regardless of whether the watch is fully wound or nearly unwound.

CHIMING MECHANISM

Chiming mechanisms make it possible to hear the time.

EXPLORE FURTHER

JUMPING NUMERALS MECHANISM

The ZEITWERK is a mechanically driven digital-display watch.

FINISHING AND ENGRAVING

Even the most minute pieces undergo an elaborate finishing.

LANGE BALANCE SPRING

Crafting a balance spring is one of the most complicated tasks in precision watchmaking, one that only very few manufactories master.

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.

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