BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
A. Lange & Söhne is marking the 30th anniversary of its rebirth this year, as well as 25 years of its most iconic chronograph timepiece, the Datograph. It’s fitting, therefore, that during Watches & Wonders Shanghai, they unveiled this super-rare edition called the Datograph Handwerkskunst.
This model, in some ways, more closely resembles the first generation of the Datograph, as can be seen in the general style of the dial and markers, especially the Roman numerals used for the time. Admittedly, that’s about as far as I can see it resembling the original. That’s mostly because this is an addition to a very special catalogue of watches from A. Lange & Söhne which all bear the name Handwerkskunst.
Meaning ‘craftsmanship’ when translated literally, the Handwerkskunst moniker is applied to watches which receive detailing beyond the already high bar set by the Saxon brand. This is typically achieved by using novel finishing styles and techniques not seen on other pieces. A. Lange & Söhne is very proud of all of its staff, particularly those who devote themselves to the high levels of finishing applied to the watches. Each member has their signature style, which can typically be seen in the engraving of the balance cocks in the watches, each pattern is that engraver’s own.
For this new Datograph variant, the most apparent finishing detail is the guilloché pattern on the dial which is known as tremblage. To achieve this finish, a tool made specifically for this design is used to make an eye-catching yet uniform pattern, especially tricky considering the amount of writing and other details which are applied to the dial afterwards, including the brand logo at the top edge.
The movement receives the same level of finishing, too. The in-house-made calibre L951.8 features granular finishing on the German silver components rather than the traditional stripes. Highly polished angles adorn the components, and black polishing gives a mirror gloss to various parts.
This is also a difficult process to accomplish. Of course, the hand-wound flyback chronograph movement is also itself a work of art, but a functional one with a 2.5Hz beat rate and a 60-hour power reserve. This is all wrapped in a 41mm x 13.1mm 18k yellow gold case.
I think it’s fair to say that few watches in A. Lange & Söhne’s lineup has faired quite as well or gained as much attention as the Datograph. It was a marvel when it was first released and it’s become even more marvellous as it’s come along with new colours and complications and so forth. As you can imagine, the amount of work needed to make one of these is a natural limiting factor to its production level, although that hasn’t stopped them from limiting this one to just 25 examples worldwide. Price on application.
