WORLDTEMPUS - 14 October 2010
Roberta Naas
On Tuesday in New York City yesterday, A. Lange & Söhne kicked off a celebration in Homage to F.A. Lange and in honor of the company's 165 years of history in Glashütte with the beginning of a watch tour that is slated to go next to Japan. Hosted by Gaetan Guillosson, president of A. Lange & Söhne USA and several German executives from the headquarters, the brand displayed movement parts, newest watches and a one-of-a-kind restored pocket watch from 1902 now valued at more than $2 million that the company spent five years refurbishing.
Selecting the penthouse of the Cooper Square Hotel as the location for the event, A. Lange & Söhne not only brought in timepieces, but also master watchmaker Jan Sliva and a master engraver to demonstrate their arts. The floor-to-ceiling windowed penthouse emulated the well-lit workshops of the brand's headquarters and was a fitting venue. Among watches in the traveling exhibit are the Lange 31 and the jumping hour Zeitwerk, as well as the anniversary pieces of the Homage to F.A. Lange collection in honey-colored gold. Also on display were the mainsprings of these movements, including a nearly six-foot-long mainspring – two of which are found within the Lange 31.
A particularly rare treat – one that shall exist for only two years and then be gone – was the viewing of the restored Grand Complication No. 42500, originally manufactured by A. Lange & Söhne in 1902. The privately owned watch was brought to the company almost nine years ago by the owner's friend, who happened to be visiting the brand's home town of Glashütte. He was asked by the owner to just stop in with the watch and see if it had any value. Apparently it did. Lange master watchmaker Sliva recognized immediately upon seeing the piece that it was a gem of irreplaceable worth. As such, the brand offered to restore it for free, complete with documentation of every part and the creation of a book about its restoration -- provided they could take the watch on tour and show it to the world for two years after completion.
The Grande Complication pocket watch, complete with perpetual calendar, striking mechanism, chronograph with flyback function and more, is indeed a $2 million-plus work of master craftsmanship. A. Lange & Söhne's Sliva invested more than 5,000 hours over a time period of five years into making new parts to replace many that were rusted in recreating the watch — now a treasure. He worked with the Lange team to develop parts where old ones had corroded away, determining shapes and weights, but always salvaging as much of the original mechanism as possible.
Seeing the watch in its magnificent glory and listening to the gongs working reminds us that A. Lange & Söhne does indeed offer state-of-the-art tradition in all it creates.
