SIHH 2014 – Novelty A. Lange & Söhne : Lange Zeitwerk Striking Time in pink gold

Three high-pitched chimes and one lower-pitched tone are the sounds with which the LANGE ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME announces each passing quarter and full hour. The first A. Lange & Söhne wristwatch with a chiming mechanism is now available in pink gold as well.

A. Lange & Söhne explored new avenues when it presented the LANGE ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME, its first chiming wristwatch, three years ago. Now, the resonant master-piece with precisely jumping numerals is also available in pink gold with an argenté-coloured dial and pink-gold hands.

In the LANGE ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME, key chiming mechanism components are visibly integrated into the dial design. The black-polished steel hammers can be seen on ei-ther side of the subsidiary seconds dial: one on the right for the quarter hours and one on the left for the full hours. The two gongs, embedded in a recess between the dial and bezel, are also readily recognisable. Every 15 minutes, the mechanism triggers the striking of one of the two gongs. Three high-er-pitched tones sound each quarter hour, while a low-pitched tone chimes the top of the hour. The chiming mechanism can be deactivated to prevent any disturbance dur-ing the night or at a meeting. A push piece at 4 o’clock raises the hammers and silences the watch. This process can be observed through the sapphire-crystal glass, so it is al-ways apparent whether the mechanism is switched on or off.

With its precisely jumping numerals display, the new member of the LANGE ZEITWERK family also represents lucid design and crisp legibility. The large numerals of the adjacent hour and minute indications enable the current time to be read clearly. In fractions of a second, the patented constant-force escapement advances the numerals minute by minute until the full hour when all three numeral discs jump forward simultaneously by exactly one increment. The LANGE ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME enriches the exciting interplay of numbers with a unique tone in a quarter-hour cadence for the wearer’s listening pleasure.

The heart of the LANGE ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME, the L043.2 manufacture calibre, fulfils all those expectations that watch connoisseurs legitimately associate with the name A. Lange & Söhne: its assets include the lavish decoration of all movement parts by hand as well as the balance wheel with eccentric poising weights and a proprietary Lange bal-ance spring.