Editor’s note: Like you, we are also excited for the Watches & Wonders 2022 novelties. Before we get to dive deep into them, here’s our preview & Gut Reaction Review (Grr…) of the new A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater. For our detailed hands-on reviews, please head to our dedicated reviews section here. This is NOT a sponsored post.
The New A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater In A Nutshell
At first glance, the new A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater looks like a vintage dress watch; restrained and understated. With Roman numerals and a plain three-part white enamel canvas for a dial, it’s unassumingly beautiful. Visually elegant.
But actuate the slide integrated into the left-hand case flank and the visual charm is quickly multiplied by the acoustic enchantment. A treat for the senses, the A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater is for the gentleman of exquisite taste and an ear for divine rhythms.
Basic Specs of the Richard Lange Minute Repeater
The new A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater features a 20m water-resistant 39mm diameter and 9.7mm thick 950 platinum case with satin-finished flanks and prominently domed lugs. It is topped by a sapphire crystal with Mohs hardness 9. Framed by this very nicely proportioned case is the in-house crafted 18-carat white gold dial with enamel that forms the quiet basis for the thermally blued steel hands and printed and burned into the surface slender Roman numerals. In unassuming hushed tones the peripheral railway track minute scale circles the dial, and a subsidiary seconds counter at 6 sinks into the enamel.
It is in this pristine and peaceful context that the A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater sounds, breaking the stillness with the harmonious hand-tuned gongs that first strike the hours, the quarter hours, and then the minutes.
Powering this concert for the visual and acoustical senses is the manually wound Lange manufacture calibre L122.1, decorated and assembled by hand. The 30mm x 5.4mm movement comprises 415 parts and 40 jewels, beats at the frequency of 3Hz, and provides with an impressive 72-hour power reserve. This 69th Lange manufacture calibre features a screw balance and a freely oscillating Breguet balance spring that is again made in-house. I also like that the chiming mechanism has a pause elimination feature, a safety device so that the minute repeater cannot be activated while the crown is pulled out, and a patented feature that prevents the rebounding hammers from bouncing and striking the gongs again.
As you would assume with a Lange timepiece, it is very nicely finished, with the movement’s three quarter plate made of untreated German silver. There is solarisation on the winding train and the bridges of the chiming mechanism. The gong hammers are elaborately finished with black polish, and the balance cock is engraved by hand.
Quotable
“The hours sound at a lower pitch, the quarter hours with a double tone, and the minutes that have elapsed since the last quarter hour with a higher-pitched tone. The time shown in the image – 1.51 a.m. or 1.51 p.m. – would thus be struck with a low tone, three double tones, and six high tones. When the repeater sequence is activated, the sapphire-crystal caseback reveals exactly how the mirror-polished gong hammers execute the respective sequence of strikes on the two gongs that are wrapped around the movement”.
Press release
Parting Thoughts
The most striking feature about the new A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater is its unpretentious aesthetic that makes the added complication of a minute repeater sound even more alarmingly refreshing.
This 50-pieces Boutique exclusive and engraved edition number A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Minute Repeater is announced as part of the Watches & Wonders 2022 March 30 to April 5 (both online and at the Salon).
To find out more about the new Minute Repeater and their other watches, please head to their website here. All images unless otherwise stated are courtesy are © A. Lange & Söhne 2022. Make sure to check out our reviews of other Watches & Wonders 2022 novelties here.
