A. Lange & Söhne

foversta
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Part 2: the Zeitwerk Striking Time

So, here it is, the first striking watch from Lange. I already explained the context in the introduction of my report.

To be honest with you, I'm not a fan of this watch. Even if for the technical reasons (mainly the available power), the Zeitwerk was a good choice for creating this first striking watch... I regret to loose the purety of the "classic" version of the Zeitwerk. I'm not sure that here, the visible hammers work very well in we speak in terms of design. But there is a functional reason for this choice: the Zeitwerk strikes "au passage" and not on request. So we need a display to see if we are in a silence or in a striking mode. When the hammers touch the chime, the watch is in the striking mode. When they are close to the time bridge, the watch is in the silence mode.

When it is in the striking mode, the watch strikes once every quarter and once every hour: the hour note is deeper than the quarters one. It is not possible to set the watch in a "hours striking" only.

I think that my disappointment comes from the unique strike. I would be pleased to see at least a small melody (or the number of hours) every hour  and not an unique note.

The left hammer is dedicated to the hours while the right one is dedicated to the left one:




Everybody agrees about the fact that this watch is a first step. We gave to Lange during the last years a lot of pressure. Each time we met a Lange representative, in NY, in Germany, in Paris, in Singapore, everywhere in the world, we had the same question: when will you release a striking watch? So here it comes. I think that with this Zeitwerk, the Lange team learned a lot and understood that would be the upcoming challenges to create an impressive striking watch which will bring an alternative offer to the swiss ones.

Caliber L043.2 has a 2,5hz frequency and a power reserve of 36 hours even when the watch is in the striking mode. That's the proof that there was a reserve of power in the Zeitwerk.

Due to the presence of the chimes, the case is larger (44,2mm) and a bit thicker (13,8mm). The watch is available with WG case (with the black dial) and with a PT one (and a rhodiumed dial) in a LE of 100 pieces.

The WG Zeitwerk Striking Time:



















My feelings in a sentence: a first step in the striking watches world, maybe too shy in front of my expectations. Lange has the potential to do better and sure that the restauration of the 42500 gave more ambitious ideas to the Lange team.

Fr.Xavier