By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
At SIHH 2016, A. Lange & Söhne has come out with a limited edition Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase ‘Lumen’. Only 200 examples will be made and as its name would suggest, generates a special glow.
The dial of this limited edition model is made of blackened silver with tinted, semi-transparent sapphire-crystal glass. Using a special luminous coating, the watch glows in the dark.
The effects of the glowing bits on the dial are actually interesting. It shows a lot of the watch and has the effect like a light function on a digital quartz watch. For this piece, Normally, A. Lange & Söhne uses a moon phase disc made of lume-backed glass, which is then coated via a patented process that turns the surface of the glass black. The disc is then passed under a laser beam that accurately cuts out 1164 stars and the moon. Once properly set, it only needs to be corrected by once every 122.6 years.
In typical Lange 1 fashion, the hours and minutes are offset to the left in the largest sub-dial while a smaller seconds sub-dial is located below and to its right. The big date window is located near to the 1 o’clock position and the power reserve indicator is located at the 3 o’clock position. The dial is protected by sapphire crystal.
The 41 mm wide platinum case of the A. Lange & Söhne Grand Lange Moon Phase Lumen watch is 9.5 mm thick. The movement powering the watch is the in-house L095.4. With 45 jewels and made out of 446 parts, it operates in an operating frequency of 3 hertz or 21,600 vph. A winding movement, it has a power reserve of 72 hours.
The A. Lange & Söhne Grand Lange Moon Phase Lumen is an exceptionally stunning looking watch. Despite the very expensive metal used, it does not look extravagant. The black-out concept makes it mysterious and intriguing. If I do have the money, I would definitely get this piece.
For more info, please visit alange-soehne.com
MEOR AMRI MEOR AYOB – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Meor Amri is a passionate watch collector from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Having bitten by the horology bug in 2010, he has written extensively about the watch scene and has assembled a large collection of watches (excessively!!!) on his own free time. His blogs on the same subject are: Eastern Watch & Western Watch Read his articles here
