Precise, Preciser, RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite”
Precise, Preciser, RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite”
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Glashütte, January 2009
The third Lange wristwatch with a fusée-and-chain transmission continues the tradition of observation watches that are fully focused on precise time measurement. This horological rarity with its three-part enamel dial has famous historic forebears.
The pocket chronometer – the timepiece of the scientific elite – has always been a coveted rarity. It dates back to around 1880 at A. Lange & Söhne, when Richard Lange, the company founder’s oldest son and technical director of the family business, was already inspiring the craft of precision watchmaking. Overall, only about 30 of these unusual timepieces were ever made. Now, the chronometer with a fusée-and-chain transmission is experiencing a renaissance, as an exclusive timekeeping instrument for the wrist dedicated to mechanical precision – reduced to this sole purpose, without any further complications. Its name: RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite”.
Following the TOURBILLON in the first collection and the TOURBOGRAPH presented in 2005, this RICHARD LANGE model also bears the distinction “Pour le Mérite”. At Lange, it is reserved for exceptional complications such as the fusée-and-chain transmission. It refers to the order of merit initiated in 1842 by the eminent explorer Alexander von Humboldt and which is still awarded to great scientists and artists. But this distinction could also be understood as a commendation for the forefathers of Saxony’s precision watchmaking industry. One of them is Richard Lange who enriched watchmaking with numerous inventions, most notably the steel-nickel alloy for balance springs that he patented in 1930. The alloy contains beryllium, making hairsprings thermally stable and resistant to magnetic fields. It is still widely used today for the same purpose.
The RICHARD LANGE “Pour le Mérite” is the second member of a watch family dedicated explicitly to greater precision in time measurement. The first watch with the same name, a large and extraordinary three-hand timepiece devoted to the tradition of scientific observation watches, was a role model of accuracy and lucid design. The new model also has a case in platinum or pink gold with a diameter of 40.5 millimetres, perceptibly enhancing legibility. Puristically organised, the radiant white three-part enamel dial features narrow black Roman numerals for the hours and small red Arabic numerals for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes. Thirty elaborate processes are needed to produce each of the three subsidiary dials. The result is an immaculate enamel face that sets a brightly contrasted stage for the classic blued-steel hands. An aperture in the dial that could have shown the fusée-and-chain mechanism from the front was deliberately omitted so that nothing would distract the owner from telling the exact time at a glance.