Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar

This is not simply a tourbillon-free variant of its predecessor, the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, from which it borrows some stylistic solutions and the layout of the tourbillon version, but rather a watch in which a brand-new movement makes its debut: calibre L021.3, with 21,600 vibrations per hour and 50 hours of power reserve. Compared with the tourbillon calibre L082.1, it features a month display on a movable peripheral ring, instead of the classic disc programmed over the 48 months of a full four-year cycle. For the rest, it is a totally different movement, based on the Daymatic calibre L021.1 mounted on the first Lange 1 automatic, but with a newly developed winding mechanism: unlike the latter, which had an indirect seconds hand, an additional fourth wheel now drives the seconds sphere directly, simplifying the construction and making it more efficient.

Two versions are offered: in rose gold with a grey solid silver dial, and in a white gold edition limited to 150 pieces with a solid rose gold dial. The latter combination of materials has so far only been made once by A. Lange & Söhne in the limited edition of the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon in 2019.

More accessible is its cost (always within the limits of Lange's price list, of course), being on sale at about a third of the cost of the tourbillon: it ranges from 100,700 euros for the pink gold version to 111,800 euros for the white gold one. Certainly not for everyone, then, but it is a high complication in perfect Lange style, in which one can admire numerous newly developed technical solutions and extraordinary finishes, almost all of them handmade. If the movement is aesthetically a joy to behold, the dial offers a cleanliness and legibility on a par with very few other perpetuums, of which only the new Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar in Line, the Octa Quantième Perpetuel by F.P.Journe and the Pioneer Perpetual Calendar by H. Moser & Cie come to mind.

en_GB