A. Lange & Söhne - The Grand Lange 1
With altered dimensions and a new inner life, the GRAND LANGE 1 exhibits true grandeur. A new movement developed entirely from scratch makes it possible to transpose the subtly balanced dial layout of the LANGE 1 to its larger sibling and at the same time to slim down the silhouette.
Since it premiered in 1994, the LANGE 1 has been the icon of A. Lange & Söhne. With its particular combination of traditional elements that are unique to Saxony's watchmaking heritage – including the three-quarter plate, screwed gold chatons, or the screw balance – as well as groundbreaking innovations such as the off-centre dial design and the ingenious Lange outsize date, it earned global acclaim. The LANGE 1 soon became a multiple award winner in the realm of highend mechanical timepieces and wrote horological history in its own right. Additionally, it stands for the competence of Lange's master watchmakers and symbolises their untiring quest for the perfect watch. Eighteen years after its debut, the LANGE 1 is not only the strong foundation of a successful watch family. It is also a benchmark for many of the manufactory's other developments.
This applies all the more to a debut within its own family, as is the case with the GRAND LANGE 1. It manifests clearly rebalanced proportions and an inner life meticulously crafted to match them. With a deliberate rearrangement of watch components, the totally new manually wound calibre L095.1 made it possible to transpose the graceful dial architecture of the LANGE 1 to the perceptibly larger model. The hours, minutes, and seconds as well as the outsize date and power-reserve indication are configured on the solid-silver dial without any overlap points. To faithfully preserve the harmonious proportions down to the last detail, the Lange outsize date was also enlarged by the same factor as the dial itself.
Furthermore, the larger movement diameter made it feasible to arrange more parts on one level. The result is a movement height of merely 4.7 millimetres. The impressive 72-hour power reserve was achieved in a space-saving manner with only one mainspring barrel. This had a positive impact on the dimensions of the yellow-gold, pink-gold, and platinum cases: With a diameter of 40.9 millimetres, they are only 8.8 millimetres high, a very elegant ratio of width to height.
The sapphire-crystal caseback reveals the splendid manufacture movement, painstakingly decorated by hand and assembled twice. Embellished with Glashütte ribbing, the three-quarter plate made of untreated German silver assures optimised stability. Its gracefully curved cutout exposes the balance that beats with a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour and is carried by the hand-engraved balance cock. A proprietary Lange-made balance spring assures exceptionally high rate accuracy. Seven screwed gold chatons secure the ruby jewels, accentuating the visual appeal of the movement on the plate side.
Technical details
Badollet - Tourbillon Stellaire
Conveying the remembrance of time and imbued with dreams and an aura of mystery, meteorite fragments symbolise the ephemeral nature of time and humankind's vision of eternity. Badollet has chosen to integrate this highly symbolic material within the Tourbillon Stellaire. The BAD1630 movement that drives this Instrument of Time is distinguished by its baseplate entirely made from meteorite and by the upper bridge of the tourbillon carriage set with extra-terrestrial olivines. This use of extra-terrestrial materials is unprecedented in the design of watch movements.
DESCRITPTION
This mechanical hand-wound movement, endowed with a 120-hour power reserve displayed on the caseback, indicates the hours and minutes by means of central hands, as well as a tourbillon that is visible through the openworked dial at 6 o'clock. Revealing the symbolic power of the infinitely small, the carriage of the flying tourbillon carrying the Badollet logo and weighing less than one gram is set in a free-spirited and random manner with various shapes of extra-terrestrial olivines, also extracted from meteorite fragments. The 44 mm-diameter case in 150 palladium-coated white gold of the Tourbillon Stellaire is fitted with a sapphire crystal caseback enabling one to admire the back of the exceptional movement as well as its power reserve. Water-resistant to 30 metres, this stunning model features a glareproofed sapphire crystal protecting an openworked dial with Roman numeral hour circle, revealing the various parts of the movement and its meteorite baseplate. The dial comes in a range of materials ranging from lapis lazuli to onyx, as well as brown jade and black or white mother-of-pearl. The caseback also provides a glimpse of the finely openworked and hand-drawn bridges, depicting galactic circles. Produced in an edition that is limited by its very nature, the Tourbillon Stellaire comes fitted with a genuine crocodile leather strap, complete with a folding clasp in 150 palladium-coated white gold.
METEORITES
These extracts from extra-terrestrial matter, originating from the depths of the universe, have always exercised a powerful fascination over human beings, evoking the mysteries of the creation of the world. Believed to have formed four billion years ago, at the same time as the solar system, meteorites constitute an incredible source of potential knowledge, carrying within them memories of what the solar system was like before the planets were formed.
THE CAPE YORK METEORITE
The baseplate of the BAD1630 movement was created from the Cape York meteorite, named after the place where it landed, in Melville bay to the west of Greenland. It is thought to have dropped form the sky 10,000 years ago, even before Greenland was inhabited. This meteorite, discovered during a perilous expedition headed by English explorer Sir John Ross in 1818, was particularly important in the daily life of the Inuits, who used it to make arrow heads, harpoons and knives.
EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL OLIVINES
Badollet has chosen to set the tourbillon carriage, not with the usual precious stones, but with sidereal gems: olivines, detected in the dust halos surrounding young stars, as well as in the dust coma of the Hale-Bopp comet. Earth-bound olivines, found in great abundance in volcanic rocks, are used in making jewellery. While extra-terrestrial or “heavenly” olivines feature much the same composition as their much younger earthly sisters, they can nonetheless be identified by scientific analyses. Badollet holds an official certificate certifying the “nonearthly” origin of the olivines used to adorn its Tourbillon Stellaire.
GALACTIC CIRCLES
Hundreds of millions of stars rotate around a common centre of gravity, thereby forming a galaxy. “Galactic circles”, represented by the bridges of the BAD1630 movement powering the Tourbillon Stellaire, is the name given to describe the path described by these stars as they pursue their rotation.
THE TOURBILLON STELLAIRE, A GENUINE WATCHMAKING CHALLENGE…
Badollet's choice of meteorite for the baseplate of its BAD1630 movement was not determined merely by its symbolic value, but also viewed as a chance to rise to a technical challenge. Meteorite is a material that is particularly hard to fashion, not only because its structure is extremely uneven, but also because it tends to become magnetically charged during machining. Badollet therefore had to develop some exceptional processes in order to accomplish the apparently impossible.
…AND A UNIQUE TIMEPIECE
The Cape York meteorite is an octahedric type meteorite made up of more than 91% iron and having been exposed to cosmic rays for an estimated 93 million years. This high iron content is liable to modify the colour of the Tourbillon Stellaire movement, yet without affecting its smooth operation. This distinctive feature reinforces the unique nature of each timepiece, since none of them will look identical as time goes by. THROUGH ITS EXCEPTIONAL AND UNPRECEDENTED COMPOSITION, THE TOURBILLON STELLAIRE EMBODIES A BEWITCHING BLEND OF THE OLDEST MATERIALS AND THE MOST CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES
Audemars Piguet Millenary Precieuse Diamond-Set 18 kt White Gold Ladies Watch 79382BC.ZZ.9186BC.01US$ 268.00
Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Diamond Bezel Automatic Rose Gold Men's Watch 15158OR.ZZ.1229OR.01US$ 258.00
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Diamond Mother of Pearl Dial Rose Gold Ladies Watch 67605OR.ZZ.D009SU.01US$ 289.00
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Automatic Diamond 18 kt Yellow Gold Ladies Watch 77321BA.ZZ.D012CR.01US$ 269.00
