Weekly Watch Photo – A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar

[Loud voice] AND THE WINNER IS… Winner? What winner? Winner of what? The winner of the Timezone Watch of the Year 2012 Award is the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. A well deserved victory for the most legible tourbillon perpetual calendar. 

For the Watch of the Year 2012, the Timezone moderators pre-selected seven, instead of the usual six, nominees, and members of the forum could vote for their favorite. The competition was very strong, with competitors like the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Sphérotourbillon, the Rolex Sky-Dweller and the HYT H1. The winner is the watch that in my opinion marked the apotheosis of last year’s SIHH.

Now for a change I’m not going to explain much about all the technicalities of this impressive piece of micro-enginering and extreme Haute Horlogerie. Let’s just suffice to mention its specifications and let me refer to my previous article about the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar for more detailed information. But first some photos and basic info!

With the launch of the Lange 1 Daymatic, A. Lange & Söhne introduced us to the first Lange 1 with an automatically wound movement and a “reversed” dial. The day of the week indication took the place of where usually the hours/minutes sub dial resides. The large date aperture moved from the right hand to the left side of the dial and the hours/minutes subdial now positioned in the middle of the right side of the dial. So the first Lange 1 with automatic winding, the addition of a day of the week indication and with a more or less mirrored dial.

That was the starting point for the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, which also features an automatically wound movement, a day of the week indication, and here the hours/minutes sub dial and the large date aperture are also mirrored compared to a ‘normal’ Lange 1. The month indicators is placed in the rim of the dial. This makes it the most legible perpetual calendar, because all indications can be read without overlapping hands from other indications.

And last but not least, the following photo was in the post-SIHH press photos from A. Lange & Söhne. It shows the large clock, that always adorns the A. Lange & Söhne booth and in front you can see…. me. The guy with his head in front of the moon phase indication, before I forget to mention that this Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar also features a moon phase indication.

 Other indications are for the day/night indication and for the leap years. The tourbillon can only be admired through the sapphire crystal in the case back. Subtle, stylish and distinctive… Three words that perfectly describe pretty much every watch that comes from the A. Lange & Söhne manufacture in Glashütte, Germany.

Congratulations to A. Lange & Söhne! 

This article is written by Frank Geelen, executive editor for Monochrome Watches.