A. Lange & Söhne: 1815 Chronograph “Best of Show 2021”

This year marks the tenth time that A. Lange & Söhne has supported the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.For the first time, this year’s prize for the winner of the main “Best of Show” category is a special model of the 1815 CHRONOGRAPH. 

Since 2012, A. Lange & Söhne has been a partner of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, which this year will be held on Lake Como from 1 to 3 October. Every year, Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid has presented the owner of the competition’s most elegant vehicle with a LANGE 1 TIME ZONE “Como Edition”. Each of these watches is a unique piece, as the hand-engraved hinged cuvette refers to the event: The “CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VILLA D’ESTE” signature frames the coat of arms as well as the founding year 1929 and the current event year. They bridge the span from the first Concorso d’Eleganza to the present. This exceptional watch is not for sale. It is reserved exclusively for the winner in the “Best of Show” category. 

Wilhelm Schmid “Cars and watches represent values that are important to us. Particularly when they are designed in such a way that triggers passion. Cars represent freedom and independence. Watches symbolise the preciousness of time. We move and identify with them. And this is why they fascinate us in equal measure, and why creative people exploit mechanics and design to give them shape and make them touching and inspiring works of art. All this is part and parcel of our partnership with the Concorso d’Eleganza, which was established ten years ago.”

In 2021, for the first time, this timepiece is an 18-carat white-gold edition of the 1815 CHRONOGRAPH with a pink-gold dial and a hand-engraved hinged cuvette. The selection of this watch, one of the most beautiful column-wheel-controlled flyback chronographs, as the new trophy is a reminiscence of the historic link between motor sport and time measurement. 

The 1815 CHRONOGRAPH in the 39.5 mm white-gold case melds classic design with mechanical ingenuity. With its Arabic numerals and the railway-track minute scale, the dial in pink gold recalls A. Lange & Söhne’s legendary pocket watches. The brown subsidiary dials for the seconds and the minute counter contrast well against the bright background. The black rhodiumed gold hands for the hours and minutes, that match the case, and the steel chronograph hand, the subsidiary seconds hand and the minute-counter hand, which are also rhodiumed, ensure good legibility as well. A dark-brown strap made of hand-stitched leather with a prong buckle in white gold rounds out the colour concept. 

In use since 2010, the manually wound calibre L951.5 features column-wheel control, a snail for the precisely jumping minute counter, and a refined flyback function. It has a power reserve of 60 hours. A large cam-poised balance wheel driven by a freely oscillating hairspring crafted in- house assures superior rate accuracy. Because it beats at a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscilla- tions per hour (2.5 hertz), the watch delivers readings of stopped times with the accuracy of one- fifth of a second. The sapphire-crystal caseback reveals the lavishly hand-finished chronograph mechanism. A subtly composed choice of different materials and surface decorations empha- sises the three-dimensionality of the movement architecture. The open configuration allows the critical switching processes to be observed. The hand-engraved balance cock with the Lange- style whiplash spring is visible as well.