Performance, practicality and prestige – the defining traits of the legendary Lange 1 watch are again emphatically expressed in the timepiece’s latest and most complicated incarnation. Rather fittingly, in A. Lange & Söhne’s typically stoic German style, the watch’s ‘most complicated’ status is extolled with a distinct lack of fanfare.

Rather, the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar’s exceptional technical achievements seek nothing more than to conscientiously serve the basic functions of time- and date-telling.

Take the watch’s tourbillon complication, for instance. An exceedingly hard-to-craft mechanism, the tourbillon is highly sought after by both watchmakers and connoisseurs. Here, however, the tourbillon is relegated to the case back – and rightly so – in order to free up space and maximise the legibility of the perpetual calendar display.

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Technically astounding yet delightfully practical, the watch’s perpetual calendar display is presented in a manner that is simple, crisp and easy to read. At one glance of the dial, the wearer is able to ascertain the day, date, month, moon phase and leap without having to strain his eyes as he would on typically cluttered perpetual calendar timepieces.

Being a Lange complication, there are plenty of mechanical details to look out for. A key highlight is the automatic movement’s proprietary instantaneous switching mechanism, where all the indicators, including the date, day and moon phase, change at the stroke of midnight.

Eagle-eyed Lange 1 fans will no doubt notice some cosmetic tweaks, notably on the upsized case, twin date windows, and hour and second sub-dials. Those aside, the watch remains a familiar and legendary beacon of Teutonic horology that watch buffs have come to revere and expect.

Case: Platinum or pink gold
Movement: Automatic Calibre L082.1
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, tourbillon, perpetual calendar
Power Reserve: 50 hours

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