It was at a spectacular global launch in Berlin in 2009 when Richemont’s phoenix from the east German ashes, A. Lange & Söhne took everyone by surprise, launching a trailblazing watch: the Zeitwerk, or ‘time work’.
Its vast duo of precisely switching hours and minutes windows conceal an ingenious mechanical movement as beautifully hand-finished as we’ve come to expect from the meister of Glashuette village. By 2019 the Zeitwerk was also equipped with an equally ingenious date ring, circling the dial.
It is made of printed glass, depicting the numerals 1 to 31. A small colour segment on a ring beneath the date ring performs one step exactly at midnight. Hence, the current date appears in red.
Now, six years after making its debut in white gold, the Zeitwerk Date now stages an entrance in pink gold, joining the grey on white gold model as part of the core catalogue.
In the interest of optimised, logical legibility, the two apertures for the prominent hour and minute numerals are arranged from left to right on the centre axis of the dial – brushed rather than polished to avoid glare and ease instant readability.
The indication is instantaneous and baffling in it precision: within a fraction of a second, the patented jumping numerals mechanism switches the numeral discs – precisely 1,440 times throughout the day.
Controlled by a patented constant-force escapement, the tremendous force needed to advance the time indication is delivered by an exceedingly powerful twin mainspring barrel.
“It gives the otherwise ‘traditional’ A. Lange & Söhne watchmaking artistry a distinctive, contemporary face,” explains Anthony de Haas, the brand’s charismatic director of product development and an alumnus of Audemars Piguet’s nascent skinkworks, Renaud & Papi.
“Precisely at midnight, it puts on an exceptional show. Because then, all three jumping numeral discs and the date ring switch simultaneously. At that moment, a force and precision are at work that you imagine can be felt through the case.”
POA, alange-soehne.com