It’s often not practical for a brand to apply their utmost level of finishing and refinement to every single watch in their collections. It would make the production time for every timepiece inordinately long and the prices prohibitively high for the average collector. As such, many watch brands reserve their highest levels of finishing and artistry for special collections and limited editions. For Patek Philippe that’s the Rare Handcrafts and for Vacheron Constantin it’s the Metiers d’Art. For German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne it’s the Handwerkskunst series, which my GCSE in German tells me is handmade artworks and craftsmanship. This is relevant because they’ve just released a new one, the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst.
The Datograph is an important model for Lange this year because the collection is celebrating its 25th anniversary since it was reintroduced in 1999 following the brand’s re-founding. They’ve already released a hyper technical haute horology edition this year in celebration with the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen, so now it’s time for the finishers and engravers to have their turn. And they have really gone to town.
Starting with the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst’s case, it’s actually fairly restrained in comparison to the dial and movement. It’s a beautifully polished 41mm diameter piece in 750 yellow gold with matching gold pushers and fluted crown. It’s about as traditional and classic of a dress watch design as it’s possible to get with a chronograph. Even the brown alligator strap that it’s presented on screams of classicism.
Impressive as the case is though, the dial is where the heightened level of finishing really comes into display. It has a black-rhodiumed main dial with light grey rhodium subdials, all of which has been decorated with tremblage engraving. Tremblage is essentially an engraving technique that achieves a grained texture similar to sandblasting by hand, using a fine-tipped chisel called a burin to carefully carve every single grain. It’s incredibly difficult and mastering the careful attention and precision it requires to create an even, consistent appearance takes years. That’s without even mentioning that you also have to preserve the areas that are designated for the various numerals and scales that need applying.
Speaking of the applied numerals and scales, they are sculpted in gold to match the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst’s case. They have carefully contoured edges achieved through relief engraving and chamfering. The top surfaces are then straight grained in order to catch the light in a satisfying way. The same techniques are also used on the central hands and the border of the date window at 12 o’clock. I suppose I should say the Datograph is equipped with central hours, minutes and chronograph seconds and the bicompax subdials feature small seconds and a 30-minute timer. A tachymeter scale runs around the perimeter of the display for keeping track of your speed.
Looking through the sapphire exhibition window reveals an astonishingly beautiful machine in the form of the calibre L951.8. It’s a manual-winding movement assembled by hand and adjusted in five positions to ensure accuracy. It has 426 parts, with the barrel spring providing a 60-hour power reserve. In terms of finishing, we’ll just have to list it all out. The chronograph levers have black polishing (the western version of Zaratsu polishing), the German silver three-quarter plate is grained to echo the tremblage of the dial and the balance cock is engraved with a vine motif. That’s all in addition to all the traditional chamfered and polished edges that you would expect to find on a Lange.
The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst will be exclusively available through A. Lange & Söhne boutiques and is, naturally, price on request. Bear in mind that the Datograph Honeygold Lumen madness that I mentioned previously is reportedly around £600k. If you want the chance to see the Handwerkskunst in the metal, it will be on display in the UK at the Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace this weekend, 30 August – 1 September.
Price and Specs:
Model:
A.
Lange & Söhne Datograph Handwerkskunst
Ref:
405.048F
Case:
41mm
diameter x 13.1mm thickness, 750 yellow gold
Dial:
Black
Movement:
Lange
manufacture calibre L951.8, manual winding, 43 jewels, 426 parts
Frequency:
18,000
vph (2 Hz)
Power reserve:
60h
Functions:
Hours,
minutes, seconds, date, flyback chronograph
Strap:
Dark
brown hand stitched alligator leather
Price:
Price
on request, limited to 25 watches
More details at A. Lange & Söhne.
Oracle Time