A. Lange & Söhne came to wow its savvy collectors this year with the new Minute Repeater Perpetuel, which, as the name suggests, combines two of the most extraordinarily difficult-to-execute complications in horology: a minue repeater and a perpetual calendar. Naturally, a piece this fine comes in 950 platinum and is limited to just 50 pieces. Its glossy black enamel dial frames a subsidiary dial at 9 o’clock for the day-of-the-week and 24-hour displays, another at 3 o’clock for the month and leap-year indications, and a third at 6 o’clock for the moonphase featuring moons in 750 gold and 100 hand-engraved stars.
Beneath this classic and beautiful display is a brand new calibre L122.2 made of 640 parts, including Lange’s signature engraved balance cock, a three-quarter plate made of German silver with black rhodium engravings, and screwed gold chatons, to name just a few of the exquisite details that complete this masterpiece. The minute repeater mechanism is set into action via a slide on the left-hand side of the case to strike the hours at a low pitch, the quarter hours at a double tone, and the minutes that have elapsed since the last hour with a higher pitch tone. The timepiece sings its melody via two differently tuned gongs in a repertoire of 720 sequences for every minute in the 12-hour cycle.
One can imagine that Anthony de Haas, Lange’s much-loved director of product development and an avid drummer, enjoyed the challenge of creating this ultra-complicated connoisseur timepiece. It may also be true that he needs a long vacation after this revelation. In any case, this is certainly a highlight of Watches & Wonders.
Case Size: 40.5 x 12.1 mm
Case Material: 950 platinum
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Strap: hand-stitched alligator leather
Price: Limited to 50, upon request
From the article by Paige Reddinger, Oren Hartov, Victoria Gomelsky, Carol Besler, Justin Fenner
