A. Lange & Söhne

amanico
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AN IN DEPTH REVIEW OF THE LANGEMATIK ANNIVERSARY

You may imagine how great and intense is my pleasure to introduce you this important watch, for Lange: The Langematik Anniversary.

This is an important watch because with its release, Lange wanted to celebrate an Event, and to give an Hommage to the Tradtional Horological Craftmanship.

1/ The Event: The 10 years of the rebirth of this prestigious Manufacture.

10 impressive years!

Beside the " Current" ( if we can call a Lange Watch " current " ), production, there were some exceptionnal Releases, true technically and esthetically MASTERPIECES, as the:

Tourbillon Pour Le Mérite ( 1994 ) :



Lange 1 A, in 1998, which is a Lange 1 with a dial in 18 Carat Gold stunningly guilloched.

1815 Moonphase, Aka Tribute to Emil Lange, in 1999, for the 150th Anniversary of Emil Lange Birth :



The Datograph, in 1999...Do I have to say one of the very best Chronos in the World?



The Lange 1 Tourbillon, in 2000:



And, in 2000 too, this Langematik Anniversary, for the 10 years of the re birht of the Manufacture...



A very interesting thing isto have in mind that Lange released their first watches only in 1994, so, 4 years after the re birth of the Manufacture, as an obvious sign that they take their time, without counting, to be sure to make the best watches!

2/ The Hommage to the Tradition and the Fine Craftmanship:

Even if not the most complicated watch, of course, this Anniversary is actually a perfect summary of the best horological refinements.

The Dial is a pure marvel od Tradition!

" XII " in Red:



Big Roman Numbers, hand painted,



" Chemin de Fer " indexes with a Losange to ponctuate each quarter " 12 ", " 15 ", " 30 ", " 45 ", and a triangle to ponctuate each " 5 ".

" IIII " instead of " IV ", as it was used on Old Pocket Watches, but also enamel dial, and heated blue hour, minutes, and small second hands, which gives a warm depht, and contrast to the dial.







And a last one ot give you a view on the warmth and the depht of an enamel dial...



We can also speak of sweetness, as the light cherishes with subtlility this enamel dial!

The Movement is not less interesting!

1st of all, it is exceptionnaly finished, as every Lange movement, of course less exciting than the Datograph Movement which is on the top of the movements ever produced .

Anglages, perlages, polissages, Cotes de Geneve, all is here, nothing is missing!

The 3 Quarter Rotor is made of precious metal: Gold, and in its outside part, in platinum, exceptionnaly finished.





Screwed Gold Chatons:



Here a pic of these Chatons taken from the Lange Web site...



Hand Engraved Balance Cock, and nicely executed Swan Neck...



These 2 Following pics are taken from the Lange Website..





This is an exceptionnal play of light, levels, materials...



All these detailed are perfectly and harmoniously integrated, for the greatest pleasure of our eyes...

Then, it is also a mechanically interesting movement, as Lange gave him the 0 Reset Mechanism.

Pull the crown as if you want to set the hour, and the Second Hand automatically comes to " 0 "...Which allows a perfect and accurate setting of the Hour.

Here, an illustration taken on the Lange Web site :



The movement is the Cal Lange 921. 7, Saxo Mat, beating at 21 600 vibrations per hour, which equipped the Langematik, and now the Saxonia, and the Langematik Perpetual ( with an additional compication, of course, for this last one ).

3/ The watch in itself:

As previously said, the Langematik Anniversary is the simpler LE released by Lange, mechanically speaking, but not the less interesting.

Here, in situation with the other nice LE, The Hora Mundi Set...



Its sobriety contributes to its strenght, its purity, which are hidden, not to say reserved to the " Connaisseurs " or true lovers.







The case, too, offers some nice refinements inherited from the past, with a blend of polished and brushed parts, as you can see on the 2 following pics:





You see?

Polished platinum on the top of the case, brushed on the sides...

Another nice example of the Horological Tradition.

Comparing the Anniversary to the Datograph, I'd say that the Anniversary has maybe more Homogeneity:



The lugs and the bezel are thinner, and reported to its smaller case, the Anniversary has quite perfect proportions and volumes, while the bezel of the Dato is a bit too thick and big, IMO.

The diameter of the case is 37mm, and the thickness around 9mm.

Under different angles, the Beauty and the Purity is here, enhancing the Balance of the Anniversary...

No need to use many counters, indicators, hands, or whatever...Its basic simplicity is like a niece come back, or a True Hommage to Watchmaking...



Here, in situation...







The use of a sapphire case back was an excellent idea, as the view of the movement is worth it, and the writing is not too much....



2 nice movements: The Dato, on the background...



The sense of perfection goes till the strap, a good quality black crocodile, with a very nice platinum simple Buckle, which is, IMO, better than a folding buckle, on a dressy watch, .

Here, a view focusing on the movement:



And here, focusing on the buckle.



Needless to say that the Anniversary is as comfortable as it is very pleasant to wear, with Casual or Dressy suits, all is good!





This LE from 2000 was made in 500 pieces, from 2000 to 2004.

So, to conclude now that I killed the bandwith with my prose and my pics, I'd say that this is exactly the kind of watch that I would love to see Lange release in the Future, strong, simple, and beautiful.

Hoping that you had pleasure to view it,

Best.

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-12-14 10:56:49

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