A. Lange & Söhne Release 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar Pink Gold Limited Edition

The 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar has been a feature of A. Lange & Söhne’s haute horology lineup for a full decade now, having first debuted in 2013 with a silver, argenté dial. In the intervening years they’ve only occasionally returned to the model for special editions like the Handwerkskunst. For the anniversary, they’ve created a 100-piece limited edition with a pink gold dial – don’t be surprised if you see us updating our article on the best salmon dials of 2023.

Let’s not beat about the bush and dive right into the dial, which is where most of the action is. As a Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, there’s a lot of information on display. Starting at 12 o’clock and working our way around clockwise we have: a 30-minute chronograph counter with power reserve indicator, a months display with leap year indicator, a small seconds subdial with moonphase and lastly a day and date subdial.

But that’s not all because around the outside is a railway minute track and Arabic numeral hour markers that correlate to the central hour and minute hands. They’re joined in the centre by the titular rattrapante (aka split seconds) chronograph hands. A rattrapante is a form of chronograph complication that uses two hands that move around the dial together but that can be stopped independently to record specific moments within a larger period of time. Think individual laps within a 1,500m race. In blued steel or rhodium, the hands have a lovely contrast to the salmon tone of the pink gold dial and pair nicely with the blue of the moonphase at 6 o’clock.

As well as the fresh dial the case has had a small update in that it’s now in white gold. The previous versions have only ever been in pink gold or platinum. Although, while there’s a material change, the overall shape and size haven’t been altered, measuring 41.9mm in diameter with a round design. It has a very classy and refined aesthetic, as does the hand-stitched, brown alligator strap.

Combining two of horology’s most prestigious complications in the form of the rattrapante chronograph and perpetual calendar is no mean feat, but A. Lange & Söhne have accomplished it with the L101.1 calibre. It’s a manual wind piece with a power reserve of 42 hours and is constructed from an astonishing 631 individual parts. There are over 200 parts dedicated solely to the operation of the perpetual calendar, which will only need adjusting by one day in March… in the year 2100.

As with the existing editions of the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, the new limited edition A. Lange & Söhne Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar Pink Gold version is price on request and a boutique exclusive, meaning it’s only available directly from A. Lange & Söhne. I think the new version is a worthy tribute to the model, reinvigorating the design with a new colourway while staying true to the classical aesthetic of the 1815 collection.

​Oracle Time 

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