The dual complication that A. Lange & Söhne just unveiled is a stark departure from the releases of recent months and years. Although Lange complications are some of the most meticulously engineered in all of horology, they have never forsaken whitespace—affording admirers visual respite before continuing on to soak in the immense intricacy that goes into fashioning a Lange masterpiece.
Lange's latest launch combines a perpetual calendar and flyback chronograph with the Datograph's signature outsize date, and accentuates these engineering flexes with a five-row platinum bracelet and a flourish of diamonds.
The new 41mm A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual in 950 platinum, however, is unremorsefully replete with perpetual calendar displays, a flyback chronograph, minute track encircled by a tachymeter scale, and even 11 baguette-cut diamond indices that total 0.13 carats.
This offering out of left field has even shunned Lange’s classic alligator strap in favor of a bold five-row platinum bracelet that has been accentuated by alternate finishing and lateral chamfering. All this might have been a lot to take in, if not for the manufacture’s fervent adherence to the golden ratio and equilateral triangles. Squint and you’ll notice how these tenets of design bring harmony to a technically unabashed timepiece.
When Lange first launched the Datograph Perpetual in 2006, it was the first offering from the brand to combine a perpetual calendar and chronograph with its patented outsize date—Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s unmistakable calling card that was inspired by the Semper Opera House’s clock.
Similar to its previous iterations, the platinum Datograph Perpetual is powered by the workhorse L952.1 caliber that has been modified several times to accommodate more Lange complications and, of course, hand-finished to the loftiest Saxon standards to produce the ravishing caseback that anchors Lange’s identity, heritage and prestige.
Especially in the instance of chronograph models, Lange’s intricately finished display caseback serves as the stage where its column wheel chronograph performs a spellbinding choreography.
This uncompromising chronograph is accurate to one-fifth of a second, while its perpetual calendar will not require intervention till the leap year of 2100, and the lunar cycle 122.6 years from now.
All its calendar indications can be adjusted seperately with individual recessed correctors or together by a rapid correction pusher at 10 o’clock, the latter of which has been thoughtfully shielded from accidental trigger by a safety mechanism.
Measuring 13.5mm in thickness and limited to 50 pieces, the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual proffers an intriguing combination of tool watch aesthetics with diamond-set haute horlogerie—a design language that doesn’t speak quite as softly as its predecessors, but is perhaps meant to be loud enough to help Lange win over a new audience.
