Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/02/17/a-lange-sohne-richard-lange-tourbillon-pour-le-merite-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/
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Screws are both handsome and purposeful on this caliber. All are finished with high polished heads, chamfered slots, and beveled circumferences. However, there appears to be a functional distinction between the two styles.
Fixed components such as bridges and jewels are associated with head-blued screws; screws associated with adjustments of spacing, tension, or timing are polished bare metal.
Lange chooses to deploy not one, not two, but three sizes of engine-turned perlage on the cascading tiers of bridges and plates. Wheels – fusée included – incorporate satin brushed metallic surfaces.
However, the train wheels also sport interior bevels finished to a polished state. Although not quite on the level of the finest Greubel Forsey, this interior polishing is rare even on Swiss “holy trinity” products.
Recently, I inspected an early Philippe Dufour Simplicity, and it featured similar wheel chamfering to what I observed on the RLTPLM.
ALS watchmakers ensure a strong finish capped by a mirror-polished ratchet wheel atop a barrel blazon with sunburst graining.
As a parting shot, note the shape and intricacy of the tourbillon carriage itself. The design is a direct reference to A. Lange & Söhne pocket watches manufactured before World War II. Shared history is the reason that today’s Glashütte Original tourbillon regulators employ nearly the same cage shape. On the Lange, surface polishing, micro bevels, and interior anglage of tiny recesses are virtuoso-level.
Ultimately, a watch like this Richard Lange Tourbillon Pour le Mérite is my “Hall & Oates” watch, because it reminds me of how out of touch I’ve become with the mainstream of the watch collector community. These white gold examples retail for $233,400 and sell used for around $140,000.
Recall that in December of 2021, somebody paid $6.5 million for a steel Nautilus with a Tiffany turquoise dial. For – far – less money, you could have a handmade masterpiece the likes of which nobody else will be wearing even if “Watches and Wonders” is on your calendar.
For more information, please visit www.alange-soehne.com/us-en/timepieces/richard-lange/richard-lange-tourbillon-pour-le-merite
Quick Facts: A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Tourbillon Pour le Mérite
Reference Number: 760.026F
Case: 41.9mm diameter; 12.7mm thick; 49.1mm lug-to-lug in white gold.
Rose gold and platinum variants exist.
Dial: Sterling silver with Roman numerals, regulator with Seyffert scales, hideaway hours
Movement: L072.1, manual wind, 36-hour power reserve, stopworks, hacking seconds tourbillon, fusée and chain constant force system, retractable sub-dial, five-position adjustment, 21,600 VpH, overcoil hairspring, 31 functional synthetic rubies and 1 cosmetic diamond
Retail Price: $233,400
Preowned Market Value: $140,000-$150,000
* Tim Mosso is the media director and watch specialist at Watchbox. You can check out his very comprehensive YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@WatchBoxStudios/videos.
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Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/02/17/a-lange-sohne-richard-lange-tourbillon-pour-le-merite-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/