A. Lange & Söhne

A whirlwind of Tourbillon watches!

 

During my last visit at the Lange Boutique in Paris, I had the chance to handle 3 different Tourbillon watches. They are far from being similar and each one is focused on its own special characteristics. As a whole, they show the diversified way of the Manufacture to create a Tourbillon watch. Actually, all of them can be considered as complex watches because they contain some additional features which make them unusual in the very wide range of Tourbillon watches proposed by the high-end brands of the industry. I will not tell you that I love them all. Actually, I love one of them, like a second one... and like less the last one. I will tell you why.

Of course, the Tourbillon is a complication which totally belongs to Lange DNA: after all, one of the first complications presented in 1994 through the first contemporary collection was the Tourbillon with chaîne-fusée housed inside the Tourbillon PLM. The objective of this watch was to give the proof that Lange was back and even more important: back on top of the hill. The last Tourbillon watch was presented in 2011 with the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual... the only one which hides it and the first automatic Tourbillon by Lange!


From 1994, we have seen several Tourbillon watches in the Lange collection with or without chaîne-fusée, with or without the stop-Tourbillon system. This system was introduced with the Cabaret Tourbillon, the only Tourbillon at Lange with a non-round case. But all of them share several common points like the use of diamond endstones.

The 3 watches I'm talking about and seen during my visit at the Boutique are:

- The Lange 1 Tourbillon from the Homage to F.A.Lange collection
- The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM
- The Cabaret Tourbillon

What are their main features?

If we have to compare these specific 3 watches, we can highlight the hereafter points:

- They are handwind watches
- They all have a 3hz frequency
- They all have the stop-tourbillon system
- The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM is the only one with chaîne-fusée (it is the reason why it is a PLM watch)
- The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM is the only one with a second hand overlapping the Tourbillon
- The Lange 1 Tourbillon (F.A.Lange) is a reedition of the previous Lange 1 Tourbillon which didn't have the stop-Tourbillon system
- The Cabaret Tourbillon has a power reserve of 5 days and it is the only Lange watch with this specific duration
- The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM has on the other hand the shortest power reserve with 36 hours
- The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM has a rotating dial part
- The Lange 1 Tourbillon (F.A.Lange) uses a honey gold case
- The Cabaret Tourbillon was the first Lange Tourbillon presented outside the context of a LE

And I think that I would be able to continue... I prefer to give my feelings about them now.

My fav of the trio is the Lange 1 Tourbillon (F.A.Lange) for several reasons. First of all, and it is not always the case, I consider it as an improvement of the initial watch. It gets the stop-Tourbillon system but not only. The opening on the dial was enlarged in order to make the Tourbillon more enjoyable. The consequence is the visible bottom of the transparent date disk while it was totally hidden before.



With its 38,5mm case and its 9,8mm height, the Lange 1 Tourbillon (F.A.Lange) is a very balanced watch, easy to wear with a lot of details on its dial: the Tourbillon, the date disk, the shape of the Tourbillon bridge, the specific decoration style of the F.A.Lange collection without forgetting the use of the honey gold case.

The Lange 1 Tourbillon at play:



The movement is also very nicely decorated even if it shows less than the other 2 Tourbillon watches.








The Lange 1 Tourbillon (F.A.Lange) on the wrist:





I really love it and I would love to be able to afford it!


Then, the Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM gets my vote. But it is not a frank one. There are some details I highly appreciate and some others... I don't.

When the watch was unveiled at the SIHH 2011, I was seduced by the idea to find again the combo Tourbillon & chaîne-fusée. Actually, the context of the Richard Lange collection was perfect because it is considered as the chronometric line of the catalogue.

The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM on the right:




And on the left:





The Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM is the crossroads of 3 worlds: the world of accuracy highlighted by the Tourbillon, the world of regularity thanks to the chaîne-fusée and the world of kinematic due to the rotating dial.

The Richard Lange proposes an unique dial layout inspired by an old Lange pocket watch (the J.H.Seyffert). And believe me, I would have loved to see a simple watch only with this dial lay-out, with an enamel dial, without the Tourbillon. Anyway, this Richard Lange has its own charm. It is a watch with a big paradox and this paradox explains its interest.

Lange complicated the objective to get a very visible Tourbillon by adding a big bridge and an overlapping second hand above it... and at the sime time, tried, struggled to find a solution to clear the space around the Tourbillon thanks to the rotating dial part system. The dial is at the end one of the most original of the whole Lange collection and I can understand why this watch has managed to provoke contrasting feelings (which is positive).

The big asset of this watch is its stunning movement: the bridges and the chain give the impression to observe a complex and technical lace. In its middle, you will see one of the largest golden chatons of the collection.








On the wrist, its 41,9mm diameter is large enough to appreciate the complexity of the dial and the rotating part. And bigger, the watch would have been unbalanced. A funny point when worn is that we feel the change of dial display at 6 or 12 o'clock when the dial part rotates. The Richard Lange Tourbilon PLM is a fascinating watch, full of impressive details but I still prefer the quieter elegance of the Lange 1 Tourbillon.





Let's compare the Tourbillons behaviour of these first two watches thanks to these movies. Do you notice something?


The Cabaret Tourbillon reminds me the SIHH 2008 with the stunning movie which presented this watch.

It was the first one with a stop-Tourbillon system in order to accurately set the time. Even if technically speaking the watch is very well achieved with  5 days of power reserve and a beautiful movement, I've never managed to be attracted by it. And for two reasons.

The Cabaret Tourbillon on the left:


The first reason is that I'm a Cabaret owner and I've always loved the perfect case proportion. With its 39,2x29,5mm case, the Cabaret Tourbillon didn't keep this proportion and I feel it. Second reason, the dial lay-out seems a bit unbalanced with a lot of data located on the lower part of the dial.


I've never understood why Lange decided to use a rectangular watch to be the first with the stop-Tourbillon system because we all know that that when it comes to non-round watches, things are much complicated!

A picture I shot several years ago:


Anyway, despite these remarks, it remains an interesting watch in terms of horological contents: a Tourbillon watch by Lange is always a superlative timepiece... and with time, maybe this watch will earn more recognition.

I would like to thank a lot the team of the Lange boutique in Paris for the warm welcome and for this Tourbillonesque moment!

Fr.Xavier