A. Lange & Söhne

Connoisseur's Akademie 3

The 3rd. & final session of the Connoisseur's Akademie took place last night in HK at the same private venue. The theme for this session was "obsessed with accuracy" and was again beautifully presented by the lovely & charming Joanna with Manfred chiming in with some of the more technical aspects.

This was followed by an interactive session with Manfred who demonstrated and explained the intricacies of regulating the balance wheel. Attendees were given the chance to try their hand at removing the tiny screw from the balance and inserting an even more minute washer into it. Trust me, it's harder than it looks.

After that, it was downstairs for cocktails & canapes and soon to be followed by dinner.

"Graduates" will be presented with a plaque similiar to this one and a chance for a factory visit in Glashutte in the near future.

I am honoured and proud to be one of the first recipient of this award and to have participated and enjoyed the sessions of the Akademie.( If anyone has a problem with their Lange I would be very happy to .............. recommend someone like Manfred to have it looked at. )

I am told that there will be more Connoisseur's Akademie springing up in different cities in due course. Singapore has recently had its first and was very well received by the local aficionados who in general possess a high degree of technical knowhow. Kudos to them.

I would highly recommend attending one if you ever get the chance. You don't need to have a huge watch collection or even own a Lange. One attendee from last night is so looking forward to his first ALS watch. I think he fancies the Zeitwerk.

Finally, if the fire that lights up the passion for haute horology in me ever wanes, I can always count on the great house of ALS to rekindle it; time & time again.

A big thank you to ALS and the fantasic team in HK for doing such a terrific job.

My week-end will be partially spent going through the memoirs of Herr Walter Lange(door gift) - The Revival of Time, as so highly recommended by Patrick in the post below. A beautifully made loup came with it to assist those like myself who is afflicted with deteriorating eyesight - how thoughtful of ALS! Of course it can also be used for looking at watches. Thanks again ALS.

Best to all & happy watching!

Fernando

Here are the pics.

The plaque for the "graduates"

Franck starting the ball rolling & pointing the finger - at Manfred?

Franck started the ball rolling & pointing the finger - at Manfred?

Joanna - radiant as ever, wonder why? A little Lange on the way?

Very happy for her.

some charts

Manfred explaining the technique of the balance regulation.

Some watches

some more heavyweights

Rejected dials

An enamel dial of a pocket watch

others

nice pair

Langematik Anniv.

This one is a lot better in the metal

movement side

Comparison with 1815 MP

Joanna demonstrating the easy removal buckle set-up of the 31 days

Cocktails

need advice?

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say cheese

Master chef Laurent at the battle station - he did it again! The meal was fantastic.

One of the dishes - duck terrine I believe

One of the dishes I did manage to photograph - duck terrine I believe

Deep in conversation

My humble 1815 MP and a delicious dish of coq au vin

Cheers

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Now that sounds like it was a really fun evening.

By: grigo : May 6th, 2011-22:42

This is something i would enjoy to do. I hope you all had a good time. Best regards, George

A good time was had by all George ....

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-01:07

in no small part due to the informality of it all & the ultra friendly ALS team. best fernando

Extra pics.

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-00:00

Posing for the camera - thank you gentleman! The book Starting on the first page....

Thanks for sharing, Fernando.

By: Davo : May 7th, 2011-03:58

Looks like it was a warm, cozy and fun event.

Yes it was Davo

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-20:24

Not to be missed, so glad I attended. Transparancy and openess - something very much appreciated by consumers these days. Only a super brand with confidence and a firm belief in their products can come up with something like this. Many questions were aske...

Very interesting event. A Master Class ala Lange?

By: amanico : May 7th, 2011-00:27

I was interested in reading and viewing the 2 techincal explanations about accuracy and " causes of isochronic inaccuracies ". Some nice dials, too. Congratulations, Mr Laureate. Best, Nicolas.

Not exactly master class...

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-01:21

Nicolas but adequate for a layman like myself who only until recently figured out some of the most elementary workings of a watch. However, it's apparent to me now that the more you learn, the more you are able to appreciate the finer points and are more ...

I completly share this statement, and thanks for the report ;) [nt]

By: Mark in Paris : May 8th, 2011-11:30

No message body

Thanks a lot Fernando, I was expecting this report.

By: foversta : May 7th, 2011-02:21

I knew that you would do it as usual ! Thanks a lot for your post, it really shows the contents of the Akademie perfecly lead by Mrs Lange ! Fx This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-05-07 02:21:59

No problem FX

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-02:39

This is too good to let slip by. Being in this city, there are a lot of watch related events as many brands vie for the appetite of HK collectors and the huge potential and increasing demand coming from the mainland. Many such events go unreported here bu...

Thanks for the report!

By: KIH : May 7th, 2011-09:31

The dial "collection" is unexpectedly fabulous, let alone the akademie contents. It would be nice to attend such school Thanks for sharing, fernando. Ken

My pleasure Ken

By: fernando : May 7th, 2011-19:49

If only our school days were like this ....... I'm sure it will come to you soon. The dials were all rejects but you can hardly tell with the naked eye. Heard the story about your collector friend in Japan - an ALS museum! Best Fernando

Awesome report!

By: patrick_y : May 7th, 2011-23:03

Awesome report! Thanks! Looking forward to attending a Connoisseur's AKADEMIE myself in my local area! Certainly looks fun! Not to mention a little difficult... Thank you for the photos!

Not at all difficult..

By: fernando : May 8th, 2011-05:35

you will certainly enjoy it. Best fernando

I'm sure I will, can't wait...

By: patrick_y : May 8th, 2011-08:37

Thanks again Fernando, and enjoy the book! Last but not least, many congrats to Joanna.

what a superb event

By: donizetti : May 8th, 2011-11:55

and how generous of Lange, and of you to let us share. Thanks! Andreas

My pleasure Andreas :) [nt]

By: fernando : May 8th, 2011-18:30

No message body

Fernando, thanks a lot ...

By: small-luxury-world : May 9th, 2011-23:30

for sharing that (for sure) great experience and especially the pictures with the dials and some of the Powerpoint´s. Would love to attend that kind of Akademie, but I assume there is nothing planned for the ALS homeland :-( Watches, resources ... go to A...

You're most welcome Oliver.

By: fernando : May 9th, 2011-23:53

My guess for the homeland: I suppose the assumption is the locals are all familiar with the name ALS and no "education" is necessary. Besides a factory visit is convenient and easily arranged? But you're right, the focus is on Asia and from a business sta...

I agree with you Fernando ...

By: small-luxury-world : May 10th, 2011-00:04

and yes I visited the factory several times. But no training or something like this and believe me there is a big need for training/education - at least for me Haven´t been to HK for some years, but in the past I visited the antique shops at Hollywoodroad...

Time for another visit..

By: fernando : May 10th, 2011-01:35

It has changed a lot since the handover. You know who to contact next time you're here. cheers fernando