A great complication that puts the design and production capacity of a haute horlogerie company to the test is the minute repeater, a type in which A. Lange & Söhne has already demonstrated great technical skill and which it is once again proposing within the Richard Lange collection (a line that has revived the great tradition of observation watches). In this case, with no additional functions, the minute repeater is the absolute protagonist in the austere 39 mm platinum case that matches the sober white enamel dial with its small seconds display.
Activated on demand via the slider on the left flank, the striking mechanism chimes the hours, quarters and minutes following a mechanical programme with two differently tuned gongs that can sound 720 different sequences, one for each minute in the 12-hour cycle. The hours sound in a lower tone, the quarters in a double tone and the minutes elapsed since the last quarter-hour in a higher tone.
The acoustic complication has been optimised with the incorporation of a pause-elimination mechanism that prevents the usual pause between the hour and minute beats in the first 14 minutes of an hour, and a safety function that prevents the minute repeater from being operated when the crown is pulled out. In addition, the crown cannot be pulled out when the strike is active. The patented hammer-locking device ensures that the hammers remain in their initial position for a fraction of a second after striking the gong, preventing them from bouncing and striking the gongs again.
The spectacle of the minute repeater is shown on the caseback side revealing how the mirror-polished hammers perform their respective sequence on the two gongs positioned around the movement, the new manual calibre L122.1. The Richard Lange Minute Repeater is offered in a limited edition of 50.
Price: on request.
