Lange & Soehne is enriching its 1815 line with the 1815 Rattrapante in platinum. Ref.425.025 is a 200-piece limited edition. Price is on request
A. Lange & Söhne is enriching its 1815 model family with a rattrapante, one of the most sophisticated chronograph mechanisms in watchmaking.
Expanding the functionality of a classic chronograph, the new 1815 Rattrapante makes it possible to measure a random number of lap times within a minute thanks to two superposed chronograph hands sweeping around the central axis, the chronograph hand and the rattrapante hand.
Both hands start together when the pusher at 2 o’clock is pressed. The centre rattrapante hand can be stopped independently of the centre chronograph hand and then resynchronised with it. This procedure, used for instance to measure lap times, can be repeated infinitely.
This minimalist interpretation of the split-seconds complication comes in a 41.2 mm case crafted from platinum. And, despite the complexity of the 365-part movement, the total height is limited to 12.6 mm. The typical design of the German watchmaker is highlighted by the alternation of satin-brushed and polished surfaces.
The bright argenté-coloured dial offers excellent legibility thanks to the use of contrasting dark blued hands. The peripheral railway-track minute scale and the prominent Arabic numerals are typical elements of the 1815 line that reflects the style of the historic pocket watches created by founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange (1815-1875).
Instead of the ordinary positions at 3 and 9 o’clock, the 30-minute counter and the subsidiary seconds dial are at positioned on the vertical centre axis, at 12 and 6 o’clock respectively. Additionally, the peripheral tachometer scale allows average speeds to be determined.
The seventh rattrapante calibre developed and crafted by Lange and previously used only for the 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold “Homage to F. A. Lange” presented in 2020, the manufacture movement L101.2 has been designed in a way that it can fully be appreciated through the transparent sapphire crystal caseback. This way, the complex switching processes to be observed in detail. The control of elapsed and lap-time measurements is handled by means of two column wheels.
In connection with the screw balance, also manufactured in-house, the freely oscillating Lange balance spring guarantees excellent rate accuracy at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz). The power reserve is 58 hours when fully wound.
Featuring bridges and cocks made of untreated German silver, a screw balance, screwed gold chatons that secure the jewels and a hand-engraved balance cock, the calibre L101.2 offers finishes at the highest Haute Horlogerie level.
All upper sides of the moving parts of the rattrapante chronograph, such as levers, springs and jumpers, are decorated with straight graining while the peripheral chamfers are polished. Bevel-polishing re-entrant angles is a particular challenge for the finishing specialists. Only experienced artisans will succeed in polishing the corners acutely and so they are truly sharp.
Matched to a hand-stitched alligator leather strap with a prong buckle in 950 platinum, the new A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante ref. 425.025 is a 200-piece limited edition exclusively available through the boutiques of the brand. The price is provided on request. alange-soehne.com
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