A. Lange & Söhne

Two years ago, A Lange & Sohne paid tribute to the founder of the German watchmaking dynasty with the "Hommage to F A Lange" edition, comprising three iconic timepieces:

* The TOURBOGRAPH "Pour le Merite"

* The LANGE 1 TOURBILLON

* The 1815 MOON PHASE

The hallmark of these limited edition (265 pcs) masterpieces is a totally new alloy of remarkable hardness and radiance: 18 carat honey-colored gold.

I was fortunate enough to lay my hands on one such piece and made a hasty post about it, but promised to take some proper pictures when I have the time.

The 1815 Moon Phase is characterised by its meticulously guilloched central segment dial, the blue lustre of the moon phase indicator and of the hands, and superb sunburst finishing of the movement. The outer portion of the three-quarter plate displays the hand-engraved signature "A. Lange & Sohne/Sa." and the balance cock carries unique hand engraving, a task mastered by only a handful of watchmakers at Lange.

Rather than using the rounded value of 29.5 days for the lunar month, the 1815 MOON PHASE operates on a mean orbit of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds. Each watch is delievered with a moon phase time table. So long as the watch runs without interruption, it offers astronomic precision for 30 generations - the moonphase display would have to be corrected by a day in 1058 years!

Without further ado...here are some wonderful pictures taken by my friend Ogyia:

 

Escapement:

Hacking and balance - the balance spring operates at the rate accuracy of 100 nanometres (about 1/100 part of the diameter of a human hair). Truly mind-boggling...

Screwed gold chatons:

The guilloched central dial:

Superbly engraved balance cock:

The immaculately finished three-quarter plate:

Hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Sam

 

Wow, what lovely pictures from this romantic watch: the aura is fully present on the pictures.

The first one looks nearly like painted, very atmospheric.

Let us see if someone else is also missing one stone ... .



Regards

Moritz

Hope it will be fixed soon

Best

Sam

It ran intermittently -- would stop before being fully wound down. Seems like Lange's factory-fresh deliveries of this model aren't quite up to par as far as reliability goes. I haven't had a problem since getting it back. I hope you get yours back soon!

Hello there

certainly, I recall your technical problems with your MP but what I ment with an endstone missing was

sarcastically ment: Sam must have mistakenly attached a picture from a L1 Tourbillon to this post.

Or deliberately to test us?

 

Regards

Moritz

No message body

Scared me for a moment, thought there was something wrong with my memory.  Then I realized...  

You are referring to the second to last pic. I suppose. Sam must have slipped that one in to confuse us.

before I say "Yes, I buy it!".

And I found already quite a few flaws ... not with a Lange yet though!

 

Regards

Moritz

You are absolutely correct Moritz.... My bad. Two of the pictures are indeed taken for my Lange 1 Tourbillon.

I am impressed

Sam

 

like a minute repeater function to add more mechanical complexity to it and enhance also the romantic mood.

Was thinking that you might also have this feeling ... .

But with a repeater function equiped it would have been out of reach for me, so all is fine .

But from the design aspect I find it still very accomplished!

 

Regards

Moritz

I know it's not the same, but is certainly the next best thing.

This is a video made of a piece that I own, at 1/50 of the price of a MR wrist watch...

www.youtube.com

Best

Sam

It was the first that I have ever tested, found it quite good in sound and pace, wanted to thing about it before

buying and what can I say: was gone when I went back!

But yours on the video sounds great: clear and calm in pace, not too rushed, very nice to listen to.

 

Many thanks for the tip and link.

Moritz

Thank you so much for the morning pleasure.

Best,

Nicolas

Oygia and I worked for a whole Sunday afternoon (well...he worked and I simply nosed around) so more nice pictures of several other pieces are on the way. Stay tuned.

Cheers

Sam

 

No message body

This 1815 Moonphase was a watch which led to mixed emotions when it was released due to the comparison with the Emil Lange.

But I like it a lot and the "homage style" is perfect for this complication.

Thanks a lot!

Fx

but somehow it grew on me....

Best

Sam

 

No message body

thanks a lot! What an exquisite piece!

 

Best

Andreas

You are a very blessed man Sam!

Continue to wear it in the best of health!

Stephen

No message body

And what a good number you have too! Thanks for sharing.

Fernando

Or are you sticking to your Langematik Perpetual?

Best

Sam

 

setting the moonphase Sam - too much hassle.  So just set the time & wear occasionally. The perpetual is easier to adjust with the quick date change button, so gets a bit more wrist time; plus the fact I like to see the 3/4 rotor in action

Best

fernando

No message body

Thanks for sharing! The 1815 Hommage is a beauty!

No message body

No message body

I think what we all really need to know is if the honey gold increases the scratch resistance of this watch so maybe you could do a little experiment......