A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater
A. Lange & Söhne, pronounced “A lang-uh oon dzuh-nuh” (for those interested, read my article How to pronounce watch brand names), left its mark on the 25th SIHH with the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater.
Decimal minute repeater
The minute repeater is already a mouth-watering complication, but A. Lange & Söhne, the Glashütte manufacture, wanted to go further by offering a decimal minute repeater.
Where traditional minute repeaters strike the hours, quarter-hours and minutes, the decimal minute repeater strikes each hour, each 10-minute interval, and each minute.
For the first time, a mechanical jumping-numeral display is paired with a decimal minute repeater. The German watchmaker states it emphatically: the acoustic signal strikes exactly the time currently displayed. This choice nonetheless required the creation of a system that delays the numeral jump if the minute repeater function is activated… with a patent filed to boot!
The hammers visible on the dial strike the hours in a low tone, a double strike after each 10 minutes have elapsed, and each minute in a high tone.
What time does it strike?
Press the pusher and, for example, 9:43 will chime as follows: nine low tones, four double strikes and three high tones.
771 components
The movement’s 771 components are protected from the potential clumsiness of an owner trying to set the watch while it is chiming, thanks to a safety mechanism that blocks the crown.
Precision above all
The action of the hammers uses part of the power reserve, and the watchmakers have taken the necessary measures to ensure that the chiming does not drain it completely, so that the watch can always continue to display the time and avoid starting a chime without finishing it.
Below 12 hours of power reserve (i.e., one third of its total capacity), the minute repeater is no longer available. This threshold is indicated by a red dot on the power-reserve indicator on the dial.
The display offers excellent legibility on a very well-balanced, pared-back dial.
The caseback of the 44.2 mm case, with a height of 14.1 mm, reveals the hand-wound calibre L043.5 beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, hand-finished and notably featuring an engraved balance cock.
The case is in platinum with a solid silver, rhodium-plated dial. The watchmakers favoured steel for the hammers for its acoustic properties.
The price of this splendour is €440,000.
