Simply Abu Dhabi XXIX

2 0 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I W alter Lange was the driving force behind the resurrection of A. Lange & Söhne in 1990. World-class precision watchmaking was restored to the German town of Glashütte. On the morning of the second SIHH day in 2017, news that Walter Lange—the Chairman of A. Lange & Söhne and the great-grandson of the company’s founder, Ferdinand Adolph Lange—had died aged 92, shocked the world of watchmaking. The sad news spread rapidly as visitors spontaneously paid their respects to the pioneer of horology at the Lange stand. Asked at the time how he intended to salute Walter Lange, Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid replied: “The best way to honour Walter Lange is to assure the continuity and the ongoing development of the company that he founded—in the way that he would have envisioned it.” Now, with the 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”, A. Lange & Söhne is proving that a watch is capable of reflecting the intention and personality of a founder. The 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” with a black enamel dial and a steel case will be produced only once. This makes it as unique as the man whose name it bears. Key to the watch is the jumping seconds complication. This was one of Walter Lange’s favourite technical features because it embodies the puristic notion of precision watchmaking, while at the same time being a piece of family history. It does not divide the second into a number of steps depending on the balance frequency, but instead treats it as a coherent unit of time. A pusher at 2 o’clock starts and stops the sweep seconds hand. The idea dates back to an invention by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in 1867; in an advanced configuration developed by his son Richard, it was granted one of Germany’s first patents in 1877. Lange’s “one-secondmovement with a jumping hand” was implemented for the first time in a masterpiece built by his second son, Emil, Walter Lange’s grandfather. Overall, more than 300 pocket watches with this function were crafted. Just like the 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”, they were endowed with a separate seconds subdial. The black enamel dial and a steel case of the homage watch also reflect the eminent heritage of the Saxon watchmaking dynasty. The watch is powered by the calibre L1924, a new movement named afterWalter’s birth year. Themovement comprises a total of 253 total components and it’s decorated and assembled by hand, with untreated German silver for the plates and bridges and a hand- engraved balance cock. Unsurprisingly, the 1815Homage to Walter Lange is a limited edition, with 145 pieces in white gold, 90 in pink gold, and 27 in yellow gold, with all three models retailing for around $58,200. The 145 represents the time between the company’s founding date and when Walter Lange resurrected A. Lange &Söhne in 1990, the 90 in pink gold specifically refers to that all important year, and 27 is the years between that date and the unveiling of the watch on December 7, 2017. A fourth limited edition—a stunning piece in stainless steel with a black enamel dial—is a piece unique that will be auctioned for charity sometime this year. It is guaranteed to raise a princely sum for a worthwhile cause. As well as this momentous watch that honours Walter Lange, A. Lange & Söhne also launched the extraordinary newTriple Split: one of the most advanced mechanical chronographs ever developed, it splits seconds, minutes and hours, permitting the wearer to record and compare two times simultaneously for up to 12 hours. It’s a limited piece of 100 pieces priced at $147,000. A. Lange & Söhne 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”