SimplyAbuDhabi X

1 0 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I W hen Ferdinand A. Lange, a Dresden watchmaker, established his watch manufactory in 1845, he laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s precision watchmaking. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after World War II, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly fell into oblivion. In 1990, Ferdinand A. Lange’s great-grandson Walter Lange had the courage to re-launch the brand. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches in gold or platinum per year. They are endowed exclusively with proprietary movements that are lavishly decorated and assembled by hand. In a period of little more than 20 years, A. Lange & Söhne developed over 40 manufacture calibres and secured a top-tier position among the world’s finest watch brands. Amongst the many fine models created by the brand is the Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" Handwerkskunst. Limited to just 15 pieces, the cases are made of an inventive honey-coloured gold alloy that is twice as hard as yellow gold. Crafted from the same material, the dial is decorated with a so- called ‘tremblage’, a rare traditional engraving technique. With all its beautiful movement decorations, this timepiece takes horological artistry to a new level that merits the accolade ‘Handwerkskunst’, meaning craftsmanship. The fourth “Pour le Mérite” timepiece presented by A. Lange & Söhne is a manifestation of artisanal virtuosity at the highest level and combines two complications – a fusée-and-chain trans- mission and a tourbillon – both designed explicitly to achieve the highest degree of precision. Its patented stop seconds mechanism allows the watch to be set with one-second accuracy. A round aperture in the regulator dial exposes the system, which revolves and oscillates at the same time. To prolong the duration of the delightful mechanical ballet for the observer, the adjacent hour dial features a cutaway portion. But precisely at 6 o’clock, the missing segment pivots into place and completes the hour ring until it instantly vanishes again exactly at 12 o’clock. Although the model was only launched in 2011, the eighth of the 15 produced was recently sold at auction in Sotheby’s in Hong Kong for more than double the original price of EUR 178.500. The final auction bid was EUR 289.350, revealing how highly esteemed and greatly valued A. Lange & Söhne watches have once more become. A. Lange&Söhne