It’s not easy to summarise the impact of the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph on contemporary watchmaking. When it was launched in 1999, it cemented the reputation of the recently reborn Saxon brand as a force to be reckoned with on the modern horological scene, expanding the space held by German watchmakers in an overwhelmingly Swiss landscape. In mechanical terms, the Datograph was seen as the Platonic ideal of a chronograph, in possession of every single point of prestige that defines a traditional high-end chronograph. The column wheel, hand angled and polished. The precisely jumping chronograph minutes, emphasising the precise nature of this complication. The intricately curved movement bridges in maillechort (German silver, also known as nickel silver), referencing the tradition and beauty of historical chronograph movements.
The name Datograph is a portmanteau word (Date-Chronograph) that describes the functions of the watch with Teutonic pragmatism and directness. Acknowledging the issues of legibility endemic to watches with multiple indications, the Datograph placed its date display at the top of the dial, in a large format that paid tribute to the patrimony of the brand and the story of its founder. This large date, emblematic of A. Lange & Söhne since the company’s revival in 1994, is typical of the brand’s approach to watchmaking, accepting no compromises or trade-offs between mechanical quality, product utility, and design.
Accolades for the Datograph have come from all the corners of the watch world. It is a beloved model by watch buyers, specialist watch journalists have rhapsodised over its technical construction and exceptional aesthetics, and — perhaps most significantly — the Datograph has received unqualified praise from other watchmakers (Philippe Dufour, the unofficial godfather of independent high-end artisanal horology, acquired his Datograph shortly after its launch and has regularly been seen wearing it). Despite its rarefied position at the summit of modern complicated watchmaking, the Datograph is not a precious diva that must be assiduously coddled and adored from a distance. Its reputation as a top chronometric performer is augmented by its robustness and versatility, evidenced by its ability to take on additional complications and deliver excellence on all fronts, day in and day out.
Case in point: the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon was first introduced in 2016, integrating two notoriously energy-hungry features that are known for their potential to negatively influence the timekeeping abilities of a watch. Individually, the perpetual calendar and tourbillon would suffice to give pause to any conventional movement. The Datograph didn’t even break stride, and despite its imposing stature in terms of horological accomplishment, the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon is just one superstar player out of many in A. Lange & Söhne’s Galácticos-level watch repertoire today.
In 2024, this superstar gets a new outfit that reflects how brightly it shines in the horological firmament. The Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen brings two of A. Lange & Söhne’s most desirable aesthetic features to this exalted model. Honey gold is a proprietary 18K gold alloy that A. Lange & Söhne debuted in 2010 to celebrate the 165th anniversary of the historical manufacture founded by Ferdinand A. Lange in Glashütte. Its subtle hue lies somewhere between pink gold and white gold, representing the epitome of discreet luxury. Despite its soft colouring, honey gold has been formulated for greater material durability and surface hardness, allowing it to remain unblemished and pristine far longer than other 18K gold alloys, and the use of honey gold is limited to very few references in the A. Lange & Söhne collection.
Honey gold’s unique colour and material properties are imparted by the other elements that make up the other 25 percent of this alloy (18K gold alloys are 75 percent pure gold). For the most part, this consists of copper, followed by small percentages of manganese and zinc, and a trace amount of silicon. In contradiction of conventional wisdom surrounding the different coloured alloys of gold, the presence of a relatively high percentage of copper in honey gold does not produce a strong reddish colour in the resulting alloy. The exact explanation why is probably best left to professional metallurgists, but I think it suffices to say that metals such as copper and gold appear to be a certain colour due to the number and position of the electrons of their respective atoms. The interaction that takes place on the atomic level between different metals in an alloy can therefore lead to some unexpected effects in terms of colour. Let’s leave it at that before this turns into a chemistry lecture.
The allure of a honey-gold model from A. Lange & Söhne can only be matched by another of its in-house aesthetic hallmarks, the “Lumen” display. First introduced in 2013 with the Grande Lange 1 Lumen, this aesthetic designation is applied to A. Lange & Söhne watches with a luminous display. Of course, given what we know about A. Lange & Söhne, we can immediately assume this is no ordinary luminous display. The semi-transparent sapphire dial of the Lumen models has a special coating that selectively blocks certain wavelengths of light, allowing ultraviolet light to pass through and charge the entirety of the luminous date wheels so that the date display remains as bright as any of the other luminous indications on the dial.
While the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen will doubtlessly make numerous “best of Watches and Wonders 2024” lists, it is not the only new Datograph released this year. A new version of the Datograph Up/Down is now available in a blue dial and white-gold case, limited to 125 pieces. While we still expect to see more from A. Lange & Söhne this year with regards to celebrating the 25th anniversary of their iconic Datograph, these two models have certainly started things off with a fine Saxon flourish.
