When you think of A. Lange & Söhne, there’s a good chance that the first thing that comes to your mind is their very Saxon take on modern-classical watchmaking, the Lange 1. However, while the Lange 1 is often the headline grabber, one of their most impressive collections has always been the Zeitwerk an ultra-modern take on haute horology. The perfect example of which is the new Zeitwerk Minute Repeater Honeygold.
We’ve seen the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater previously in both white gold and platinum so now we have it again in A. Lange & Söhne’s proprietary yellow gold alloy. The alloy is called Honeygold and is notable for being much harder than traditional gold which makes it much more scratch resistant. It also has a slightly redder tone than most yellow golds without straying into the realm of rose gold, hence the honey appellation. I would call it this the completion of the precious metal trifecta except that on occasion Lange do use rose gold, so another version isn’t out of the question for the future.
The Zeitwerk Minute Repeater Honeygold measures 44.2mm in diameter, which is very large but justifiably so since the movement housed inside is pretty impressive. It’s the L043.5 manual wind minute repeater with jumping time display and constant force mechanism. A minute repeater is a high complication that can chime the time on demand with unique tones for the elapsed hours, quarter hours and minutes giving you a precise audio representation of the time. The Zeitwerk goes a step further by replacing the quarter hour section of the chime with 10-minute intervals for even more precision.
To learn about the jumping time display, it makes sense to look at the dial, which is presented in fresh shades of dark grey to compliment the Honeygold. On the left-hand side of the display is an aperture displaying the current hour while opposite it on the dial is the current minutes. Both are displayed using discs that jump forward when they change – essentially making it a mechanical version of a 12-hour digital time display. The display also features small seconds at 6 o’clock and a power reserve indicator at 12 (useful for keeping track of those precious 36-hours).
It’s also worth flipping the watch over to view the movement through the exhibition caseback because it is astonishingly beautiful. There are a wealth of finishing techniques on display from Glashütte stripes to perlage to delicate brushing. All with a delicate gold colouration accented by blue screws and pink rubies.
Between the immaculate finishing across the watch, the haute horological movement and the precious metal case, it’s unsurprising that the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater Honeygold is price on request. This is a proper grail watch – bedroom poster worthy if you have any space left alongside all the Lamborghini Countash and Aston Martin Bulldog ones you probably have.
Price and Specs:
A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater Honeygold
147.050F
44.2mm diameter x 14.1mm thickness, 18k Honeygold® case
Grey
Lange calibre L043.5, manual winding, 93 jewels, 771 parts
18,000 vph (2.5 Hz)
36h
Hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve indicator, striking mechanism with decimal minute repeater
Dark brown hand stitched leather
Price on request, limited to 30 watches
More details at A. Lange & Söhne.
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