A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk: Digital Time From Saxony’s “Time Machine”

More than a watch, the <a title="Buy A. Lange & Sohne Watches" href="/watches/a--lange-sohne/a--lange-sohne-zeitwerk/">A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk</a> is a modern micro-mechanical marvel. Launched in 2009 to a soundtrack of dropping jaws, the otherworldly Zeitwerk instantly elevated <a href="/watches/a--lange-sohne/">A. Lange & Sohne</a> from a scrappy German rival to Geneva to a full-fledged nemesis of <a href="/watches/patek-philippe/">Patek Philippe</a>.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-932876 size-full" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Lang_Holiday-3-1.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="a lange and sohne zeitwerk" width="2031" height="1354" />

In person, the legend of the Zeitwerk grows more impressive. Internet forum folktales of its finish, its sheer wrist presence, and A. Lange & Sohne’s engineering brilliance are validated in full. Every millimeter of the 42mm 18-karat white gold case reads as a Lange – with all of the substance and style that entails – but at the edge of the dial, the eyes enter another world entirely.
The dial of the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk is more than a display; it’s a face. Zeitwerk is one of the few watches that seems to stare back at its owner with a life and focus all of its own. The balanced <a href="/watches/a--lange-sohne/a--lange-sohne-zeitwerk/">Zeitwerk</a> “time bridge” is central to this impression. As a visible portion of the movement itself, the “bridge” is, in fact, a bridge bearing the visible sapphire pivot jewel of the digital minute discs. An instantaneous jump occurs exactly once per minute.
Lange’s fully digital jumping time display is as simple in appearance as it is complex in execution. The three windows display hours and minutes; seconds and the power reserve sit opposed at six and twelve o’clock, respectively. There is a remarkable vertical and bilateral symmetry to the layout of the Zeitwerk, and that simplicity endears the watch to its owner as though the watch were the face of an old friend.
But the simplicity of the dial belies the beating beast within. A. Lange & Sohne’s caliber L043.01 required five years of research and development in advance of its 2009 launch: time well spent. The 415-component opus features no fewer than 68 pivot jewels, two screwed-chaton jewel holders, and two hand-engraved wheel cocks. Its mainspring barrel contains a herculean coil with the power to sustain the titanic power-drain of the jumping display for 36 hours. But the signature features of the Zeitwerk’s case back is the remontoir d’egalite – the constant force mechanism.
In order to ensure an even flow of power (i.e., steady timekeeping) to the oscillating balance wheel, A. Lange & Sohne needed to devise a system to insulate the Zeitwerk’s regulating organ from the surge of power flowing to the minute jumper every 60 seconds. The remontoir acts as a second power “capacitor” or reserve that receives a top-off of power from the mainspring once per minute.
The Zeitwerks’ balance is driven solely by accumulated power in the remontoir, so the regular explosion of power through the disc jump is isolated from the watch’s five-beat-per-second “heartbeat.” Over the course of each minute, the bridge linking the minute jumper to the escapement (via the remontoir) resembles a well-choreographed dance of rotating wheels, rocking pallet holders, and whirring regulators.
While fortunate owner’s intellect come to grips with the function of the Zeitwerk’s Cal. L043.1, his heart will be captured by the virtuosity of the movement’s finish. Rendered in Lange’s signature “German Silver” (nickel-copper), the caliber is endowed with a rich golden glow that stands in stark contrast with the silver rhodium-plated brass of Swiss finishing tradition. This honey-tone Saxon alloy is left untreated to be appreciated in its natural state.
But Lange certainly doesn’t leave the finish in a raw condition; each bridge, cock, and screw is polished to a mirror shine at every sheer edge. No burrs, scuffs, or manufacturing birth marks remain after A. Lange & Sohne’s artisans have painstakingly glorified each surface by hand. The crowning glory of each Zeitwerk movement is the pair of hand-engraved wheel cocks, one for the escape wheel, and one for the balance. Each is engraved in a style completely unique to the artisan who created it, and Lange aficionados revel in the individualistic beauty of these unique personal signatures.
In German, the native language of A. Lange & Sohne, “Zeitwerk” translates roughly to “time movement” or, perhaps more romantically, “time machine.” The Zeitwerk is that and more. It’s a machine, true, but with soul and a life force that transcends engineering and blurs the line between a man and his “time machine.” On the wrist, the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk – a true product of the heart and mind – becomes an extension of the self.
See this A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk in high-resolution images on www.thewatchbox.com. Video and content by Tim Mosso.

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