In the RICHARD LANGE TOURBILLON “Pour le Mérite”, a round cut-out in the seconds dial, traversed by the minute scale and by the recessed tourbillon bridge, reveals the tourbillon cage. But the tourbillon can be admired in its entirety only from twelve to six o’clock. At six, a dial segment with the Roman numerals VIII, IX, and X instantaneously pivots into the aperture to make the hour scale complete. The motion is generated by an ingenious switching mechanism, which assures that the dial segment is advanced by 90 degrees in increments of six hours. Thanks to this remarkable feature, the watch tells the time unambiguously during the morning and the evening as well. At twelve o’clock, the hours dial segment vanishes as quickly as it appeared and for the next six hours again fully exposes the tourbillon as it concurrently revolves and reciprocates. Its task is to offset rate deviations that can potentially be caused by the effect of gravity on the balance wheel. With a patented stop-seconds mechanism, the tourbillon can be halted simply by pulling the crown, allowing the time displayed by the watch to be set to one-second accuracy. Its bearing on the caseback side is a diamond endstone secured in a screwed gold chaton. This noble setting was one of the hallmarks of the legendary Lange pocket watches that belonged to the manufactory’s eminent “1A” quality category.
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The exceptionalA?Lange&Shone?timepiece with the mesmerising dial bears the attribute “Pour le Mérite”, a distinction that has been conferred on a Lange watch only three times since 1994. It reverently alludes to the order of merit for extraordinary accomplishments in the sciences and arts initiated by Alexander von Humboldt in 1842.
The honour is bestowed only upon exquisite watch replica complications that incorporate the unique fusée-and-chain transmission. With a clever implementation of the principle of levers, it equalises the gradually waning force of the mainspring and keeps the effective torque – and thus the amplitude of the balance – constant across the entire power-reserve period of 36 hours. Moreover, a planetary gearing assures that this constant force delivery is maintained without interruption even while the watch is being wound. The captivating inner life of the filigreed marvel can be admired in detail through generously sized openings in the three-quarter plate.
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