The relatively small and exclusive brand may be better known to connoisseurs than to the mainstream, but it was once well regarded for making probably the finest timepieces in the world. This premier German watchmaking company was founded back in 1845 making it older than Cartier, Chopard and Audemars Piguet to name a few. Unusually the company was not established in Switzerland but rather in the little town of Glashütte, near Dresden in the state of Saxony. Actually the marque ceased to exist when the factory was blown to bits during the Second World War. And in 1948, the post-war Soviet administration of East Germany expropriated what little there was left of the company's property. But in 1990 following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet-backed government, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of the original founder, Ferdinand Adolph Lange, resurrected this prestigious brand with help from a family of Swiss watch manufacturers including IWC. Today, both IWC and A.Lange & Söhne are part of the prestigious and prolific Richemont group of companies.
Most crucially, its resurrection was no simple branding exercise. Rather the emphasis was directed on restoring supreme craftsmanship and innovation. The firm took a go-slow policy in which production started off in small numbers. This allowed it to build a solid production platform and restored its quality over quantity reputation. It also offered the chance to use the latest technologies and only the best materials to develop in-house movements. Lange’s fanaticism for precision and technical innovation represented an old world craftsmanship in a modern day context. And so far, Lange has resisted the temptation to greatly increase production.
Though the firm specialises in mechanical movements, Lange continues to develop new movements every year and has stunned the world with the most beautiful automatic movement so far created when it brought out the Langematik. This year Bespoke was lucky enough to be present at the launch of this Lange 31 which boasts the longest power reserve of any watch in the world.
The development and innovation necessary to achieve such a feat is remarkable. Spending years surmounting hurdles the Lange team came up with many wonderful solutions. The first concern was finding a way to store such power. The solution was found by using two stacked mainspring barrels each with a length of 1,850 millimetres and an inside diameter of 25 millimetres. These barrels actually take up about three- quarters of the movement’s footprint and are more than potent.
But, of course, power is nothing without control. In complicated-speak, a long power reserve watch will give a massive surge in initial torque which will lead to an increase in amplitude but, as the power reserve diminishes, a reduction of torque will take place thereby causing a diminishment of amplitude. So, to ensure that power is delivered in a uniform manner throughout the 31-day cycle, the Lange 31 uses a remontoir mechanism. Without going into the nitty-gritty, you should just be aware that A. Lange & Söhne are one of only three companies to ever successfully implement this complication and they are the first to ever do it an a non-Tourbillon watch.
Then the next problem arose. A watch that needs to store such power will have to be wound a tiresome number of times via the crown. To avoid this, an external winding key was proposed. The rather handsome tool was actually once the staple of pocket- watches. So what you do is insert the key into the square aperture in at the back of the watch and wind away. You need not even worry about over-exerting the springs because a torque limiter prevents such a mishap. As you can see everything has been thought through to perfection.
Externally the watch had to impress given the spectacular innards. The Lange 31 case is made from platinum which is considered by many to be the rich man’s gold. So rare is the metal that if you were to pile up all the platinum ever mined, it would fill only just over 700 litres in volume. Interestingly enough the only two countries to possess platinum on any significant level are South Africa and Russia. And to put that into perspective, South Africa controls more platinum reserves than all the Arab countries combined control crude oil reserves. But back to the watch. The glass of the face and caseback is crafted from sapphire crystal. The strap of the Lange 31 is made from black crocodile leather which, of course, is one of the most expensive. This watch is precious to say the least.
In all the Lange is beautiful to look at with an internal architecture that is out of this world. Orders are now being taken for the 171,400 USD masterpiece and delivery is expected towards the end of 2008. Though not strictly a limited edition timepiece, only a few Lange 31 watches will be produced each year because of its enormous complexities. With four-hundred-and-six thoroughly hand-finished individual parts and a few records to its name anyone lucky enough to own one will certainly enjoy every second spent with this pedigree of haute-complication.
