Richard Lange
232.032
| Brand : | A. Lange & Söhne |
| Collection : | Richard Lange |
| Model : | Richard Lange |
| Reference : | 232.032 |
| Complement : | Pink gold |
| On sale : | 2006 |
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Brand : A. Lange & Söhne Collection : Richard Lange Model : Richard Lange Reference : 232.032 Complement : Pink gold On sale : 2006 List Price : 29 000 € Diameter : 40.50 mm Styles : Classical High Horology Types : Hand-winding Calibre : L041.2 Calibre distinction : Hand decorated Hand-engraved Case material : Pink gold Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback Traitement antireflet hardness 9 Shape : Round Dial : Solid silver Dial color : Silver Display : Gold rhodié hands Blued steel seconds hand Indexes : Roman numerals Glass : Sapphire Antireflective coating hardness 9 Strap material : Crocodile leather Strap color : Brown Strap clasp : Pin buckle + More characteristics : Movement
Lange manufacture calibre L041.2. manually wound. with sweep seconds. crafted. assembled. and decorated largely by hand to the highest Lange quality standards; precision-adjusted in five positions; plates and bridges made of untreated German silver; balance cock engraved by hand
Number of parts: 199
Jewels: 26
Screwed gold chatons: 2
Lever escapement
Shock-proofed glucydur balance with eccentric poising weights; superior-quality balance spring manufactured
in-house with patent-pending attachment system (balance spring clamp)
Frequency 21.600 semi-oscillations per hour
Precision beat adjustment system with lateral setscrew and whiplash spring
Power reserve: 38 hours when fully wound
18K pink gold acase
Hand-stitched crocodile strap with precious-metal
Lange prong buckle in solid gold
DESCRIPTION
- The RICHARD LANGE: Homage to a great scientist
With the RICHARD LANGE, “A. Lange & Söhne” is reviving the manufactory’s heritage in observation watches, once indispensable navigation aids and precision instruments used for scientific experiments. The elegant three-hand watch with sweep seconds, dedicated entirely to the function of high-precision time measurement in the traditionally larger dimensions pays tribute to Richard Lange (1845-1932), the eldest son of company founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange. As one of the most creative minds of the Glashütte watchmakers dynasty, he is the originator of numerous inventions and contributed decisively to the manufactory’s global reputation.
In the history of precision watchmaking, only few people had the talent to translate the scientific insights of their epoch into ingenious technical solutions. Richard Lange was one of them. His entire life was dedicated to scientific research in the domain of horology and even at an advanced age, he still worked on significant developments for which he received numerous patents. The RICHARD LANGE honours this great pioneer of horology and long-standing technical director of “A. Lange & Söhne”. At the same time, it revisits the era of scientific observation watches, a category of timepieces in which rate accuracy was the primary concern.
Accordingly, a truly remarkable movement beats inside the RICHARD LANGE. Its salient features include a sophisticated indexless oscillating system consisting of a large balance wheel with eccentric poising weights and the new balance spring developed and manufactured by Lange. The spring beats with 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour and is attached to a patent-pending balance spring clamp that simplifies adjustments.
The balance spring itself represents one of the probably greatest accomplishments of Richard Lange as described in a 1930 patent application entitled “Metal alloy for watch springs”. In the late 1920s, scientific papers were published on beryllium-nickel alloys, emphasising certain metallurgical properties achieved with the admixture of a small amount of beryllium. Richard Lange was the first to recognise the true potential of these research results for the watchmaking industry. He realised that adding beryllium to nickel and steel lessened the sensitivity of hairsprings to temperature fluctuations and magnetic fields on the one hand, and simultaneously improved their elasticity and hardness in comparison with the then common Elinvar alloy springs.
Richard Lange died only two years after the patent was granted and could no longer personally participate in the technical implementation of his invention. Nonetheless, he is credited with the introduction to watchmaking of the alloy that is still being used to manufacture modern hairsprings today. The Lange manufactory has one of the world’s very few state-of-the-art production facilities for balance springs for its own movements. The RICHARD LANGE is a worthy ambassador of this metallurgical milestone.
The Lange research laboratory’s engineers spent several years developing the best possible combination of balance wheel rims and balance springs, and fine-tuning the interaction of these two components which are so decisive for the rate accuracy of a movement. The result includes the design of a stopwork that exploits only the most constant portion of the torque profile of the mainspring. Separate measurements with a special oscillation analyser made it possible to isolate the rate-influencing contributions of the escapement and the going train. The construction that was chosen as well as the highly precise adjustment of the oscillator ensure that the rate deviations of the RICHARD LANGE remain within a very narrow tolerance range. No effort was spared to assure the ultimate in rate accuracy with mechanical means.
A re-interpretation of the scientific observation watch
The RICHARD LANGE is reminiscent of the tradition of pocket-format scientific observation watches. It began long before the military discovered the merits of their precision and adopted them because of their functionality. This new Lange timepiece has famous predecessors. The fine pocket watches crafted by hand at “A. Lange & Söhne” were renowned and coveted in the second half of the 19th century, not only because of their many useful innovations and complications, but even more so because of their extraordinary rate accuracy. In those days, natural sciences such as astronomy and physics, but also the new forms of transportation on rails and in the air had to rely on accurate time measurements. Until 1913, when the first radio-based time signals were broadcast, the correct time had to be “transported” by observation pocket watches from observatories to its ultimate place of deployment, for instance aboard ships where it was used to calibrate marine chronometers.
On the occasion of the first German expedition to the South Pole under the supervision of natural scientist and geophysicist Erich von Drygalski in 1901 to 1903, six precision pocket watches were procured from the house of “A. Lange & Söhne” to assure timekeeping accuracy on board the research vessel “Gauss”. The development of precision watches at Lange culminated in the “large observation watch” with a movement diameter of 57 millimetres. Only 15 of these pocket watches were crafted in the period between 1917 and 1937. They were sold to eminent institutions such as the Berlin Society for Time Measurement, the Physics Institute of the Clausthal-Zellerfeld Mining Academy, and the Zeppelin Yards in Friedrichshafen.
The larger diameter of observation pocket watches improved their legibility, one of the requirements that these timepieces always had to fulfil in addition to extremely small tolerances in rate accuracy. This tradition is consummately continued by the RICHARD LANGE. Its superb movement is housed in a prominent 18-carat gold or platinum case with a six-fold screwed back, albeit with a diameter reduced to 40.5 millimetres to match the proportions of the wrist. The solid-silver dial has the same slender Roman numerals that were typical for watches of this type. The blued-steel sweep seconds hand precisely follows the fractional graduations between the seconds markers. A precision scale subdivided into sixths-of-a-second intervals confirms that Lange’s designers were very serious about creating a timepiece to meet the highest expectations.
The seconds indication wheel is driven by a separate going train. A “must-have” for every observation watch, the movement has a stop-seconds feature: when the crown is pulled, the balance wheel is stopped and the seconds hand stands still instantly. This
allows the watch to be synchronised with a time signal. The movement is also fitted with a precision beat adjustment system with a whiplash spring. The exclusive movement with numerous Lange-typical hallmarks is 6.0 millimetres thick, including the additional bridge for the sweep-seconds train. The movement is carefully adjusted in five positions by Lange master watchmakers.
The heart of the RICHARD LANGE is lavishly decorated and visible through the sapphire-crystal back. The calibre L041.2 movement with blued-steel screws, screwed gold chatons, a hand-engraved balance cock, plates made of untreated German silver, and a complement of 199 painstakingly finished parts is a charismatic re-interpretation of the scientific observation watch. This legitimately popular watch type is no doubt ready to experience a genuine renaissance.
- The RICHARD LANGE: Homage to a great scientist
With the RICHARD LANGE, “A. Lange & Söhne” is reviving the manufactory’s heritage in observation watches, once indispensable navigation aids and precision instruments used for scientific experiments. The elegant three-hand watch with sweep seconds, dedicated entirely to the function of high-precision time measurement in the traditionally larger dimensions pays tribute to Richard Lange (1845-1932), the eldest son of company founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange. As one of the most creative minds of the Glashütte watchmakers dynasty, he is the originator of numerous inventions and contributed decisively to the manufactory’s global reputation.
In the history of precision watchmaking, only few people had the talent to translate the scientific insights of their epoch into ingenious technical solutions. Richard Lange was one of them. His entire life was dedicated to scientific research in the domain of horology and even at an advanced age, he still worked on significant developments for which he received numerous patents. The RICHARD LANGE honours this great pioneer of horology and long-standing technical director of “A. Lange & Söhne”. At the same time, it revisits the era of scientific observation watches, a category of timepieces in which rate accuracy was the primary concern.
Accordingly, a truly remarkable movement beats inside the RICHARD LANGE. Its salient features include a sophisticated indexless oscillating system consisting of a large balance wheel with eccentric poising weights and the new balance spring developed and manufactured by Lange. The spring beats with 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour and is attached to a patent-pending balance spring clamp that simplifies adjustments.
The balance spring itself represents one of the probably greatest accomplishments of Richard Lange as described in a 1930 patent application entitled “Metal alloy for watch springs”. In the late 1920s, scientific papers were published on beryllium-nickel alloys, emphasising certain metallurgical properties achieved with the admixture of a small amount of beryllium. Richard Lange was the first to recognise the true potential of these research results for the watchmaking industry. He realised that adding beryllium to nickel and steel lessened the sensitivity of hairsprings to temperature fluctuations and magnetic fields on the one hand, and simultaneously improved their elasticity and hardness in comparison with the then common Elinvar alloy springs.
Richard Lange died only two years after the patent was granted and could no longer personally participate in the technical implementation of his invention. Nonetheless, he is credited with the introduction to watchmaking of the alloy that is still being used to manufacture modern hairsprings today. The Lange manufactory has one of the world’s very few state-of-the-art production facilities for balance springs for its own movements. The RICHARD LANGE is a worthy ambassador of this metallurgical milestone.
The Lange research laboratory’s engineers spent several years developing the best possible combination of balance wheel rims and balance springs, and fine-tuning the interaction of these two components which are so decisive for the rate accuracy of a movement. The result includes the design of a stopwork that exploits only the most constant portion of the torque profile of the mainspring. Separate measurements with a special oscillation analyser made it possible to isolate the rate-influencing contributions of the escapement and the going train. The construction that was chosen as well as the highly precise adjustment of the oscillator ensure that the rate deviations of the RICHARD LANGE remain within a very narrow tolerance range. No effort was spared to assure the ultimate in rate accuracy with mechanical means.
A re-interpretation of the scientific observation watch
The RICHARD LANGE is reminiscent of the tradition of pocket-format scientific observation watches. It began long before the military discovered the merits of their precision and adopted them because of their functionality. This new Lange timepiece has famous predecessors. The fine pocket watches crafted by hand at “A. Lange & Söhne” were renowned and coveted in the second half of the 19th century, not only because of their many useful innovations and complications, but even more so because of their extraordinary rate accuracy. In those days, natural sciences such as astronomy and physics, but also the new forms of transportation on rails and in the air had to rely on accurate time measurements. Until 1913, when the first radio-based time signals were broadcast, the correct time had to be “transported” by observation pocket watches from observatories to its ultimate place of deployment, for instance aboard ships where it was used to calibrate marine chronometers.
On the occasion of the first German expedition to the South Pole under the supervision of natural scientist and geophysicist Erich von Drygalski in 1901 to 1903, six precision pocket watches were procured from the house of “A. Lange & Söhne” to assure timekeeping accuracy on board the research vessel “Gauss”. The development of precision watches at Lange culminated in the “large observation watch” with a movement diameter of 57 millimetres. Only 15 of these pocket watches were crafted in the period between 1917 and 1937. They were sold to eminent institutions such as the Berlin Society for Time Measurement, the Physics Institute of the Clausthal-Zellerfeld Mining Academy, and the Zeppelin Yards in Friedrichshafen.
The larger diameter of observation pocket watches improved their legibility, one of the requirements that these timepieces always had to fulfil in addition to extremely small tolerances in rate accuracy. This tradition is consummately continued by the RICHARD LANGE. Its superb movement is housed in a prominent 18-carat gold or platinum case with a six-fold screwed back, albeit with a diameter reduced to 40.5 millimetres to match the proportions of the wrist. The solid-silver dial has the same slender Roman numerals that were typical for watches of this type. The blued-steel sweep seconds hand precisely follows the fractional graduations between the seconds markers. A precision scale subdivided into sixths-of-a-second intervals confirms that Lange’s designers were very serious about creating a timepiece to meet the highest expectations.
The seconds indication wheel is driven by a separate going train. A “must-have” for every observation watch, the movement has a stop-seconds feature: when the crown is pulled, the balance wheel is stopped and the seconds hand stands still instantly. This
allows the watch to be synchronised with a time signal. The movement is also fitted with a precision beat adjustment system with a whiplash spring. The exclusive movement with numerous Lange-typical hallmarks is 6.0 millimetres thick, including the additional bridge for the sweep-seconds train. The movement is carefully adjusted in five positions by Lange master watchmakers.
The heart of the RICHARD LANGE is lavishly decorated and visible through the sapphire-crystal back. The calibre L041.2 movement with blued-steel screws, screwed gold chatons, a hand-engraved balance cock, plates made of untreated German silver, and a complement of 199 painstakingly finished parts is a charismatic re-interpretation of the scientific observation watch. This legitimately popular watch type is no doubt ready to experience a genuine renaissance.
-
Brand : A. Lange & Söhne Collection : Richard Lange Model : Richard Lange Reference : 232.032 Complement : Pink gold On sale : 2006 List Price : 29 000 € Diameter : 40.50 mm Styles : Classical High Horology Types : Hand-winding Calibre : L041.2 Calibre distinction : Hand decorated Hand-engraved Case material : Pink gold Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback Traitement antireflet hardness 9 Shape : Round Dial : Solid silver Dial color : Silver Display : Gold rhodié hands Blued steel seconds hand Indexes : Roman numerals Glass : Sapphire Antireflective coating hardness 9 Strap material : Crocodile leather Strap color : Brown Strap clasp : Pin buckle More characteristics : Movement
Lange manufacture calibre L041.2. manually wound. with sweep seconds. crafted. assembled. and decorated largely by hand to the highest Lange quality standards; precision-adjusted in five positions; plates and bridges made of untreated German silver; balance cock engraved by hand
Number of parts: 199
Jewels: 26
Screwed gold chatons: 2
Lever escapement
Shock-proofed glucydur balance with eccentric poising weights; superior-quality balance spring manufactured
in-house with patent-pending attachment system (balance spring clamp)
Frequency 21.600 semi-oscillations per hour
Precision beat adjustment system with lateral setscrew and whiplash spring
Power reserve: 38 hours when fully wound
18K pink gold acase
Hand-stitched crocodile strap with precious-metal
Lange prong buckle in solid gold