foversta[PuristSPro Moderator]
20814
Part 3: the Grande Complication (Press Release)
Feb 02, 2013,03:03 AM
Pinnacle of watchmaking: GRAND
COMPLICATION
Limited to a mere six pieces:
The most complicated and most exclusive A. Lange & Söhne
timepiece ascends to the pinnacle of precision
watchmaking.
The GRAND COMPLICATION features a host
of fascinating functions and yet again manifests the ability of the
Saxon master watchmakers to conquer ever new peaks with their undisputed
ingenuity. Beneath the lucidly configured enamel dial, the horological
opus with the calibre designation L1902 incorporates scores of lavishly
finished parts, bringing to life the most elaborate complications which
the art of haute horlogerie has to offer: Chiming mechanism with grand
and small strike, minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph with minute
counter and flying seconds as well as a perpetual calendar with
moonphase display.
The development of the GRAND
COMPLICATION is an adventurous expedition into the cosmos of complexity.
The result is a watch that is extraordinary in every respect,
reflecting the brilliance of the Lange dynasty's forebears and the
virtuosity of today's watchmakers.
A sound of
inimitable purityTwo carefully
hand-wrought gongs produce the seductive tones of the minute repeater
and of the hour and quarter-hour strikes. The GRAND COMPLICATION is
endowed with a chiming mechanism that automatically indicates the time
in the grand strike (grande sonnerie) or small strike (petite sonnerie)
modes. Every fifteen minutes, when set to grande sonnerie, it first
indicates the full hour on the low-pitched gong and then the
quarter-hours with a double strike on both gongs. In the petite sonnerie
mode, it indicates the elapsed quarter-hours with one, two, or three
double strikes on both gongs. At the top of every hour, it strikes the
time in hours on the low-pitched gong.
It is no
coincidence that the grande sonnerie is considered to be one of the most
challenging of all complications in watchmaking. It imposes extreme
requirements on the perfect interaction of intricate mechanisms crafted
from materials of the highest quality by exceptionally talented and
experienced watchmakers. "Free, with no shake" – that is the mantra
which governs the interplay between moving parts to such a degree of
accuracy that they deliver a precise strike and sound with unmatched
purity.
The chiming mechanism is powered by one of a
total of three mainspring barrels. They are wound with the crown.
Turning the crown clockwise tensions the springs for the going train and
the chronograph. The chiming mechanism barrel is wound in the opposite
direction.
When the slide in the case flank is
actuated, the minute repeater indicates the time on demand with two
gongs: The hours sound with low-pitched tones, the quarter-hours with
double-tone strikes, and the minutes with high-pitched tones. At 7:52,
for instance, the melody consists of seven low tones, three double
strikes, and seven high tones.
Accurate to
one-fifth of a secondThe chronograph of
the GRAND COMPLICATION is a monopusher type (chronographe monopoussoir)
with a rattrapante function and flying seconds (seconde foudroyante).
This rare supplementary function makes it possible to freeze stopped
times to fifths of a second. A blued-steel hand on the lower subsidiary
dial performs five jumps to complete each revolution along its
five-second scale while the chronograph is running. Thus, the hand
precisely emulates the balance frequency of 2.5 Hz.
A
gold chronograph hand and a blued-steel rattrapante hand for stopping
lap times sweep the main dial from the centre. They begin to run,
together with the flying seconds, as soon as the pusher between 1 and 2
o'clock is pressed. After each revolution of the sweep hands, the minute
counter hand in the dial at 12 o'clock advances by one interval. When
the pusher between 10 and 11 o'clock is activated, the blued-steel
split-seconds hand will stop to indicate the lap time while the gold
chronograph hand continues running. When the pusher in the left-hand
flank of the case is pressed again, the splitseconds hand instantly
catches up and then remains realigned with the chronograph hand. When
the right-hand pusher is actuated, all four chronograph hands will
stop.
Pushing the button a second time resets them
all to zero. Both mechanisms are precisely and reliably controlled in
the classic manner via two column wheels – one each for the chronograph
and rattrapante functions.
A calendar for
eternityThe perpetual calendar mechanism
emulates the Gregorian calendar. Not only does it know how many days
each month has in the course of a year, it is also aware of the fact
that February has 29 days in leap years. The mechanism first needs to be
corrected by one day in the year 2100. This is because of special rule
in the Gregorian calendar which stipulates that the leap year is omitted
if the year is divisible by 100. The duration of each month is coded
into a 48-segment wheel with recesses that are mechanically sampled by
the date switching lever. The deeper the sampled recess, the shorter the
current month.
Another special feature of the
calendar is that it advances all displays, with the exception of the
moon phase, at midnight. The calendar indications are positioned at 3, 9
and 12 o'clock. The subdial on the left indicates the date, the upper
one the month in the fouryear cycle, and the one at right the day of the
week. The upper half of the flying seconds dial exposes the
blue-enamelled, solid-gold moon disc that precisely tracks the synodic
lunation of the earth's companion.
Tribute
to a grand traditionThe face that conceals
the complex movement of the GRAND COMPLICATION is a multi-part white
enamel dial with Arabic numerals, a railway-track minute scale, and the
four characteristic, symmetrically arranged subsidiary dials. A suite of
time-consuming process steps is needed for each of the five dial
elements to assure the flawless appearance of the composite dial. The
heart of the exclusive manually wound movement is a balance that beats
with a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour. As a tribute to
Ferdinand A. Lange, who established Saxony's watchmaking heritage, the
watch incorporates a Glashütte lever escapement based on one of his
early inventions. Its lever and escape wheel are made of hardened
18-carat gold. The lever is designed to be in perfect
equilibrium.
A slight camber of the covered pallets
prevents any adhesion with the escape wheel. The perfect execution of
these intricate design features contributes to the enhanced rate
accuracy of the watch. The oscillator is paired with a balance spring
crafted in-house. When the mainspring is fully wound, it delivers a
power reserve of 30 hours. All parts of the complex manual winding
movement are manufactured and lavishly finished by hand to the strictest
Lange quality criteria. At several points, Lange's master watchmakers
took the amount of work invested in finissage to unprecedented levels:
For example, all chronograph levers are black-polished. The exclusive
collectors' item in the 50-millimetre pink gold case comes in a limited
edition of six watches. Thus, the GRAND COMPLICATION is not only
immaculate from the technical point of view, it is also a
rare
horological work of
art.