Dials for perpetuity
The art of enamelling is an artisanal technique that dates back more than 3000 years in which metal is melted and fused with coloured glass in an elaborate and highly sensitive process. At a very early stage, the procedure was used in watchmaking to create a coating for dials. It endows the dial with an intriguing depth and assures that inscriptions contrast impressively. Enamel is distinguished by its aesthetic appeal and notable durability.
Today, only few experts are capable of carrying out the complicated procedure. Consequently, wristwatches with enamel dials are rare and have become coveted collector’s items. Since its re-establishment, A. Lange & Söhne has introduced several exceptional models featuring an enamel dial, exclusively available in limited editions.
ANNIVERSARY LANGEMATIK
The ten-year anniversary of the revival in 2000 was the reason for A. Lange & Söhne to take a closer look at the tradition of enamelling and to subsequently present a special model of the LANGEMATIK with a two-part enamel dial. The attention devoted to details such as the separately imprinted and fired red numeral XII, the recessed subsidiary seconds dial and the blued steel hands underscore the historic authenticity of the watch.
The ANNIVERSARY LANGEMATIK was limited to 500 pieces in platinum and is among the most coveted A. Lange & Söhne collector’s items at auctions.
RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite”
In the third A. Lange & Söhne timepiece with a fusée-and-chain transmission, the “Pour le Mérite” concept was implemented in its purest form. At Lange, the distinction referring to the order of merit initiated by Alexander von Humboldt is reserved for exceptional complications based on the fusée-and-chain principle. The mechanism compensates the diminishing power of the spring and maintains a constant effective torque across the entire power-reserve duration.
The RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite” is an exemplary interpretation of the scientific observation watch, totally focused on precision timekeeping. The edition launched in 2009 is graced with an ornate enamel dial and limited to 50 watches in platinum and 200 in pink gold. A model of lucid purism, the three-part white dial is resplendent with its slender black Roman numerals for the hours and small red Arabic numerals for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. 30 elaborate procedures are involved in crafting each one of the three auxiliary dials ‒ ultimately resulting in a perfect, immaculate dial.
GRAND COMPLICATION
Limited to a mere six watches, the GRAND COMPLICATION is one of the most sophisticated and complicated timepieces ever built in Germany. The watch features a rattrapante chronograph with minute counter and flying seconds. At midnight, its perpetual calendar with a moon-phase and leap-year display switches instantaneously. Additionally, it has a striking mechanism with Grande Sonnerie, grand and small strikes, as well as a minute repeater. The Grande Sonnerie presents one of the greatest challenges in precision watchmaking.
The complex movement is counterbalanced with a five-part enamel dial in white. The Arabic numerals, railway-track minute scale and four auxiliary dials arranged in the shape of a clover are reminiscent of the historic A. Lange & Söhne pocket watches.
LANGE 1 TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST
In 2000, A. Lange & Söhne presented the first wristwatch to combine the outsize date, patented at the time, with a tourbillon, a three-day movement and a power-reserve indicator. The HANDWERKSKUNST edition of the LANGE 1 TOURBILLON launched in 2014 is adorned with lavish movement decorations and boasts a black-enamelled dial in white gold. It provides the perfect stage for the markers polished to a high gloss and the matching hands in rhodiumed gold. The black subsidiary dial for the eccentric seconds is made of silver. It is slightly recessed into the main dial, intensifying the three-dimensional effect. The sophisticated timepiece is limited to only 20 pieces in platinum.
1815 RATTRAPANTE PERPETUAL CALENDAR HANDWERKSKUNST
In this masterpiece launched in 2017, the manufacture unveils its interpretation of artisanal virtuosity. This is the first A. Lange & Söhne model to combine enamel art and engraving on its dial and hinged cuvette on the reverse of the watch. White gold is the substrate for the slightly transparent deep-blue enamel of the dial. Beneath this, the sculpted contours of the relief-engraved stars appear to be an extension of the moon-phase display, exquisitely contrasting with the argenté-coloured auxiliary dials in white gold and a flange ring of the same colour.
The hinged cuvette depicts the goddess Luna, executed in relief and tremblage engraving in a medallion that shows her with her characteristic attributes: a veil, a crescent-moon diadem and a torch. The medallion is surrounded by a raised star and cloud relief in blue enamel. This extraordinary timepiece is limited to only 20 pieces in white gold.
1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”
In honour of company founder Walter Lange, who passed away in January 2017, A. Lange & Söhne presented this exceptional watch in stainless steel featuring a black enamel dial: only one piece was ever crafted, rendering it as unique as the man who brought precision watchmaking back to Glashütte in 1990.
The classic dial design is totally reduced to the essence and enriched with a complication that was especially appreciated by him: the jumping sweep seconds with start/stop function which is based on an invention of his great-grandfather Ferdinand Adolph Lange that was patented in an evolved form as one of the first inventions in Germany in the year 1877. In May 2018, the watch was auctioned in support of the children’s aid organisation “Children Action” at 852,500 Swiss Francs (according to the valid exchange rate at the time 713,627 Euros). Until then, this constituted the highest auction result achieved for an A. Lange & Söhne watch.
1815 THIN HONEYGOLD “Homage to F. A. Lange”
In 2020, A. Lange & Söhne celebrated the establishment of the first Glashütte watch manufacture by Ferdinand Adolph Lange 175 years ago with an exclusive special model, the 1815 THIN HONEYGOLD “Homage to F. A. Lange”. Characteristics of the two-hand watch that comes in a limited edition of 175 pieces include the honey-gold (HONEYGOLD®) case, a white enamel dial and magnificent movement decorations.
The case has a height of only 6.3 millimetres, paired with a diameter of 38 millimetres. Just like the hands and buckle, it is made of Lange’s exclusive honey gold that boasts a particular hardness. It is exclusively reserved for limited editions. The two-part enamel dial is resplendent in white, making a striking appearance in this notable frame. The printed Arabic numerals in dark-grey and the classic railway-track minute scale contrast crisply against the light background.
CABARET TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST
The CABARET TOURBILLON HANDWERKSKUNST is – viewed from all sides – an extravagant timepiece. The limited 30-watch edition in platinum introduced in 2021, is a special version of the world’s first mechanical wristwatch with stop seconds for the tourbillon. It combines superb watchmaking artistry, to the outermost angles of its rectangular calibre, with elaborate, traditional and, meanwhile, rare artisanal techniques.
The three-part dial is made of white gold and embellished with different types of decorations. The inner area with the typical Lange outsize date is manually engraved with a lozenge pattern. This regular motif sets a challenge to the engraver as every small deviation is instantly visible. It is inspired by the six lozenge-shaped hour markers in gold that face the centre. Together with the Roman numerals III, IX and XII, they are located in the outer zone of the dial that resembles a passepartout. A thin line decorated with tremblage visually separates the dial parts from one another. This engraving technique also graces the frame of the hand eye and of the date aperture.
The dial is coated with a semi-transparent enamel layer that adds extra depth to the engraving and showcases various metallic shades of grey. The result is an extravagant dial with a three-dimensional effect.
RICHARD LANGE MINUTE REPEATER
Launched in 2022 and limited to 50 watches in platinum, the RICHARD LANGE MINUTE REPEATER shines the spotlight on the chiming mechanism. The complex construction is based on the traditional sound format and designed to superb acoustic quality standards: when the slide integrated into the left-hand case flank is actuated, the chiming mechanism strikes the hours, the quarter hours, and the minutes.
The white enamel dial emphasises the commitment to artisanal perfection. It has a white-gold core and three parts. The outer ring and the middle part of the main dial as well as the subsidiary seconds dial are hand-crafted individually in an elaborate process before all three parts are joined together. The white radiant background assures a crisp contrast for the thermally blued steel hands. The printed inscriptions are burned into the surface. They include the slender Roman numerals typical of the watch family. A fine red line above the twelve adds a subtle colour accent.
MINUTE REPEATER PERPETUAL
In 2025, with the MINUTE REPEATER PERPETUAL limited to 50 watches in platinum, A. Lange & Söhne once again launched a watch with a minute repeater, this time pairing it with a perpetual calendar. Each one of these complications alone represents a technical feat in itself, the combination of the two, however, poses an even greater challenge. This holds true for the engineers as well as the watchmakers, since the precise tuning and harmonising of all the mechanisms requires a superior degree of technical expertise and craftsmanship.
The technical sophistication of this masterpiece is reflected in the high-quality artisanship of the four-part dial. Made of black-enamelled white gold, it is crafted in numerous steps in an elaborate procedure. The immaculate, glossy black surface offers the displays and the characteristic Lange outsize date an elegant stage, providing a contrasting backdrop ‒ thus assuring excellent legibility.
1815 TOURBILLON
The 1815 TOURBILLON focuses on superb precision. In 2014, this was the first watch in which A. Lange & Söhne combined the stop-seconds device for the tourbillon with the ZERO-RESET function. The interplay of both mechanisms makes it possible to stop the model with one-second accuracy, simplifying the setting procedure.
In 2018, the manufacture presented the model in a platinum version limited to 100 pieces with a white-enamelled dial, and seven years later, in a limited platinum edition of 50 pieces with a jet-black enamel dial. The immaculate surface contrasts with the flush markings and the scales, elegantly framing the tourbillon.
A procedure involving many risks
“Enamel is volatile and cannot be hurried,” say the experts. Crafting an enamel dial takes several days during which the sequence of different steps frequently has to be repeated several times.
It is difficult to monitor the crafting procedure. The material is applied in several layers to obtain the desired thickness. Every layer is fired separately. With every firing procedure, there is a possibility that fissures appear, the material produces air pockets or tiny inclusions become visible.
The scrap rate is correspondingly high. Up to a dozen dials have to be crafted to obtain a single perfect dial. If the dial consists of several parts, as is the case with the MINUTE REPEATER PERPETUAL or the GRAND COMPLICATION, the risk is multiplied. Unsurprisingly, dials that pass the rigorous final test are among the most precious components of the watch.
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