A. Lange & Söhne presented the new Cabaret Tourbillon Handwerkskunst, the 7th piece of the Handwerkskunst series. Ref. 703.048 has a price of €322900
A. Lange & Söhne is adding a new creation to its extraordinary Handwerkskunst series.
The German word Handwerkskunst means "artisanship" and it is used by the Saxon watchmaker since 2011 to identify special limited-edition timepieces which required exceptional craftsmanship to be created, usually with dials and movements enhanced by rare finishing and engraving techniques.
The new Cabaret Tourbillon Handwerkskunst is the seventh model to join this exclusive club.
Limited to just 30 pieces, this is a special version of a wristwatch that marked a milestone for A. Lange & Söhne and, more in general, for watchmaking. In fact, the Cabaret Tourbillon launched in 2008 was the world’s first mechanical wristwatch to feature a tourbillon with stop seconds mechanism, making it possible to instantaneously stop the balance inside the rotating cage and instantly restart it by pushing the crown home.
Framed by a 29.5 mm × 39.2 mm × 10.3 mm rectangular case crafted from 950 platinum, the solid white gold dial is characterised by the use of the lozenge as a recurring design element.
The inner area features the signature Lange outsize date and it is engraved with a lozenge pattern, a very challenging motif because any irregularities would be evident at first glance.
It is inspired by the six lozenge-shaped hour markers that you can see in the outer zone of the dial together with the Roman numerals III, IX and XII.
A thin line decorated with tremblage separates the two parts of the dial. A semi-transparent enamel layer coat the dial thus adding depth to the engravings.
The two subsidiary dials in rhodium-coloured gold with gold hands indicate small seconds and power reserve (AB standing for UP and AUF for DOWN).
The large aperture at 6 o'clock showcases the spectacular one-minute tourbillon which is suspended between two diamond endstones. The matt-finished tourbillon bridge is black polished. Using special abrasive pastes, the component is manually polished until it appears to be black at a certain angle of incident light.
The caseback reveals other details of the hand-wound calibre L042.1 which beats at the frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour) with a power reserve of 120 hours delivered by a twin mainspring barrel.
Of its 370 parts, 84 are integrated in the tourbillon that weighs only a quarter of a gram.
When you pull the crown, the oscillating balance inside the rotating cage stops instantaneously making it possible to set the timepiece to the precise second. When the crown is pushed home, the arresting spring is retracted and the balance can restart with no delay.
The lozenge motif of the dial is echoed by the black-rhodiumed engravings on the tourbillon and intermediate wheel cocks, creating a visual bridge between the dial and the movement side. It is easy to recognize the screwed gold chaton of the tourbillon for its diamond endstone.
The train-wheel bridge in untreated German silver with a granular surface is reminiscent of the movements of historic pocket watches.
Matched to a black leather strap with grey contrast stitching secured to the wrist by a deployant buckle in platinum, the A. Lange & Söhne Cabaret Tourbillon Handwerkskunst ref. 703.048 has a price of Euro 322,900. alange-soehne.com
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