Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The new A. Lange & Söhne Minute Repeater Perpetual
Lange pulls out the big guns with this intrepid mix of high-end complications.
Deploying its full arsenal for Watches and Wonders 2025, the Saxon powerhouse A. Lange & Söhne unveils the Minute Repeater Perpetual, a potent horological cocktail combining a minute repeater with a perpetual calendar. A rare and ambitious mix, the imposing platinum Minute Repeater Perpetual with a black enamel dial is powered by a newly developed manual-winding movement.
Lange has ample experience with both complications, as evidenced by the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, the Richard Lange Minute Repeater and the Lange 1 and Langematik Perpetual Calendar. While Lange has produced some mind-boggling complication mixes, like the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, this is the first time Lange marries a QP to a minute repeater – excluding of course the Grande Complication (which added even more to the equation).
Lange’s Minute Repeater Perpetual is a watch with an imposing presence, consolidated by the 40mm platinum case (12.1mm thick) and the austere but rich black enamel dial. While platinum is a rare and luxurious metal that is harder to work with than gold, it is renowned for its excellent acoustic properties.
When the slider on the left case flank is activated, the minute repeater strikes the hours at a low pitch, the quarter hours with a double tone and the minutes elapsed since the last quarter hour with a higher-pitched tone. With a repertoire of 720 sequences, the striking mechanism has been enhanced with a pause elimination feature, a safety device preventing the activation of the minute repeater when the crown is pulled and a patented hammer blocker to avoid bouncing and striking the gongs again.
If kept wound, the perpetual calendar will relay the date, day of the week, month and leap years with precision until 1 March 2100, when it will need a one-day correction. Similarly, the precision moon phase will only need adjusting in 122.6 years. Saxon practicality prevails, and all the calendar indications can be advanced jointly with a single corrector embedded in the caseband.
The glossy black enamel dial is crafted in-house and relies on a similar layout to the Langematik Perpetual Calendar, complete with the signature outsize date at noon. A thin, circular white gold border, known as a ‘lesene’, separates all the dial sections to enhance legibility. This includes the chapter ring with the applied Roman numerals and the three sub-dials with the calendar information: day of the week and 24h display at 9, month and leap year at 3, and moon phase and small seconds at 6 o’clock.
The caseback reveals the impressive technical complexity and artisanal finishing of the new calibre L122.2. With 640 parts, the manual-winding movement features Lange’s characteristic engraved balance cock and three-quarter plate made of untreated German silver with black rhodium engravings. Although most of the repeater and QP mechanisms are hidden, the two manually bent gongs and gong hammers, finished with black polish, can be admired in action. Decorated with solarisation, the mainspring barrel delivers a maximum power reserve of 72 hours. The centrifugal governor rotates at a speed of more than 2,000 rpm when the striking mechanism is activated, ensuring a uniform cadence of the strikes and an almost silent operation.
The Minute Repeater Perpetual is paired with a classical black hand-stitched alligator leather strap with a platinum deployant buckle. It is a limited edition of 50 watches and is available exclusively at A. Lange & Söhne boutiques. The price, as you may have guessed, is on request. More information at alange.soehne.com.
