SimplyAbuDhabi XXXIII

9 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I A . Lange & Söhne never fail to impress at SIHH and in 2019 they exceeded the already high expectations watch lovers have of them, presenting five stunning new timepieces. The iconic Lange 1 is celebrating its 25th Anniversary and so the prestigious German Manufacture marks the occasion with a round jubilee of its award-winning model in a white gold edition limited to 250 pieces. Its special features include a deep-blue printed argenté dial and a hand-engraved cuvette. The Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon is also reinterpreted, with a unique combination of flyback chronograph, perpetual calendar with moon phase, tourbillon with stop seconds and power-reserve indicator for the first time, resplendent in white gold with a pink gold dial. The Richard Lange Jumping Seconds also makes a strong statement with its prominent white gold case, black dial and red accents emphasising the scientific-technical design of the timepiece. The fourth release is a limited edition of the Langematik Perpetual, now available with a case in honey gold—a particularly hard and robust metal used exclusively by A. Lange & Söhne. The fifth timepiece, and the highlight of Lange’s 2019 collection, and of the SIHH itself, is the Zeitwerk Date. Another anniversary milestone is celebrated here—Lange’s first mechanical wristwatch with a precisely jumping digital display celebrates ten years. The new version is endowed with a new manufacture calibre featuring an extra function—the glass ring date showing the current day in red. When A. Lange & Söhne created the Zeitwerk in 2009, it was greeted with numerous awards for its innovative concept and for being the first mechanical wristwatch with constant-force escapement and precisely jumping digital displays that indicate the hour and minute with jumping numerals. Within a fraction of a second, the unique mechanism advances the numeral discs, even simultaneously incrementing all three discs at the top of the hour. Given the controlled release of the forces involved, the Zeitwerk was referred to as a remarkable “time machine”. A decade on and now we welcome the addition of a ring-shaped date display circling the dial and in perfect harmony with the Zeitwerk design. The new Zeitwerk Date comes in a 44.2mm white gold case with a grey dial and a distinctive red date. The circumferential date ring consists of glass with printed numerals from 1 to 31. The current date is displayed in red. To achieve this effect, a small colour segment beneath the date ring performs one step exactly at midnight. So, in the course of a month, it moves around the dial by one full revolution. With this arrangement, the date is always clearly legible at all times and also recognisable intuitively. The date display can be adjusted with the corrector at 8 o'clock; the switching impulse is generated when it is released. The new manually wound calibre L043.8 is a beautiful movement with clear and perfectly organised architecture. The patented constant-force escapement continues to execute two tasks—it performs as a remontoir device, powering the balance with a uniform amount of force for the entire running. Secondly, it delivers the one-per-minute impulse for switching the three-disc jumping numerals display. A final innovation in this outstanding timepiece is an additional button at 4 o'clock that is used to separately advance the hour indication, solving a problem that originated in the date display. Since it calls for a time setting that is accurate to 24 hours, it would take too long to adjust the time via the crown— minute by minute. With considerable technical modifications, this is now improved to cap off a majestic anniversary edition. A. LANGE & SÖHNE Z E I T W E R K D A T E