In the late 1980s, Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, founder of Chronoswiss and volcanic designer, bought a stock of Marvin 700 movements from one of the many manufacturers hit by the quartz crisis. Now, 30 years later, those slightly modified and renamed L43.1 calibre movements are at the heart of the Lang 1943 project, an idea of creative designer and marketing consultant Georg Bartowiak.
The brand's name is a tribute to its prestigious co-founder and his date of birth, which, not coincidentally, corresponds to the year in which the British Ministry of Defence issued the invitation to tender for wristwatches for the armed forces. It was the famous 'Dirty Dozen', with many of the features that distinguish the Lang Field Watch Edition One today: luminescent Arabic numeral hour markers, chemin de fer minute scale and small seconds at 6 o'clock.
The hand-wound L43.1 calibre with a diameter of 29.40 mm and a thickness of 3.2 mm is visible through the transparent case back (introduced by Lang himself in the 1980s), beats at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour and provides 46 hours of power reserve.
The 39 mm diameter and 8.4 mm thick case withstands pressure of 5 atmospheres and has a brushed finish typical of tool watches. The Lang Edition One has a shaded grey dial, with a strap in black or brown leather, or khaki cordura (price €3,500; limited edition of 500 pieces). Website: www.lang1943.com, instagram: @lang1943official.
