A. Lange & Söhne: LANGE 1 Perpetual Calendar

Exactly 20 years ago, A. Lange & Söhne presented the LANGEMATIK Perpetual, its first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar. It was followed by seven further models, mostly in combination with other complications such as a chronograph, a tourbillon or both. 

The new LANGE 1 Perpetual Calendar is totally focused on the eponymous complication. Its integration into the dial layout of the LANGE 1 was made possible thanks to a peripheral month ring created especially for this design. The moon-phase display with an integrated day/night indicator is a further special feature. 

THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE PERPETUAL CALENDAR

Apart from the classic principle with calendar displays controlled by a 48-step cam, the LANGE 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar introduced in 2012 already took a different approach that has now been adopted by the new model. To integrate the calendar ensemble into the off-centre dial architecture of the LANGE 1 without compromising the balance of the displays, the month indication was implemented with a ring at the periphery of the dial that advances once a month. 

The ring-shaped month display is complemented with the Lange outsize date, a retrograde day- of-week display, and a leap-year indication. The instantaneously advancing calendar displays are always crisply legible. They can be advanced collectively or individually with correctors. Once properly set, the mechanism is programmed to reliably indicate each month change until the year 2100. 

MOON PHASE WITH DAY/NIGHT INDICATOR

The perpetual calendar is the central complication of the LANGE 1 Perpetual Calendar, but not the only one. The watch additionally features a moon-phase display with an integrated day/night indicator. 

The combination of the moon-phase display with a day/night indicator has two layers. It consists of a solid-gold celestial disc with a blue gradation. It completes one full revolution about its own axis every 24 hours. Against this background, the moon – either in white or pink gold – performs its synodic orbit in 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and three seconds with such precision that it takes 122.6 years before a correction by one day is needed. With the 2016 debut of the combined display in the LANGE 1 MOON PHASE, the moon appears on a monochrome light blue canopy during the day and on a dark blue starry sky at night. 

THE NEW IN-HOUSE CALIBER L021.3

The self-winding movement L021.3 is A. Lange & Söhne’s 67th manufacture calibre. It is based on the calibre L021.1 of the LANGE 1 DAYMATIC and has been endowed with a newly developed winding mechanism. Its technical features include a unidirectional winding rotor in 21-carat gold with an additional centrifugal mass in platinum, a power reserve of 50 hours, and a cam-poised balance that runs with a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour. 

THE TWO VERSIONS

The new LANGE 1 Perpetual Calendar come with a 41.9 mm X 12.1 mm case and is available in two versions. In pink gold with a grey solid-silver dial with a red-brown leather strap (Price € 101.700) and – in a 150-watch limited edition – in white gold with a solid pink-gold dial and dark-brown leather strap (Price € 111.800).