The German luxury brand strengthens ties with Hong Kong by opening its third boutique in the metropolis. With the new location in the premier shopping destination Harbour City, A. Lange & Söhne invites watch enthusiasts to learn more about the art of Saxon fine watchmaking.
Harbour City is the largest and most diverse shopping mall in Hong Kong. Located at the heart of the city alongside the Victoria Harbour, it offers a wide range of shopping, dining, entertainment and sightseeing options. The all-in-one mall is also home to A. Lange & Söhne’s latest boutique in the Asian Pacific region. The German watch manufacturer has been present in Hong Kong since 1997 and now opens a new location which invites watch enthusiasts to explore the uniquely rich heritage of A. Lange & Söhne, which began more than 175 years ago. At that time, the Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded his first workshop in the town of Glashütte, which is nestled into the Ore Mountains. After the German Reunification in 1990, his great-grandson Walter Lange revived the once world-famous company and brought it once again to the forefront of international haute horlogerie.
“With our third boutique in Hong Kong, which is the second at Kowloon, we are not only further increasing our commitment to the continuously growing number of watch connoisseurs who take a keen interest in A. Lange & Söhne”, Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid notes. “We are also delighted to offer an elaborately designed setting that reflects the soul of our manufactory and allows you to immerse yourself in the art of Saxon fine watchmaking.”
“With our new location we contribute to the diversity of Harbour City in particular by creating unparalleled shopping experiences in the luxury segment,” Gaetan Guillosson, Managing Director of Asia Pacific adds. “In our new boutique you can clearly feel the interplay of the elements of tradition, craftsmanship and performance that have made A. Lange & Söhne timepieces internationally acclaimed.“
A window into the world of A. Lange & Söhne
Upon entering the 58-square-metre sales area, which is located on the second level of the Ocean Terminal, visitors are greeted by an atmosphere that reflects the same dedication to perfection that also distinguishes every timepiece from A. Lange & Söhne. The brand’s commitment to sophistication and craftsmanship comes to life through many intriguing details, such as the metal pilaster strips on the wall furniture. Just like the frame parts of the manufacture calibres that are crafted from German silver, their edges are bevelled at an angle of 45 degrees and mirror polished. The various interior design elements interlocking at the right angle create stunning perspectives and exciting plays of light. Partition walls and sliding doors in signature subtle grey shades clearly structure the different areas, from the display of the watch collection to exhibition domains and client consultancy services.
A particular highlight is the Experience Library that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the history of A. Lange & Söhne. The authentic exhibited items were carefully selected to reveal the rich heritage and unique horological expertise.
LANGE 1MOON PHASE A moon for days and nights
In 2002, the LANGE 1 MOON PHASE enriched A. Lange & Söhne’s most successful watch family with a model featuring the popular astronomical complication. Following the LANGE 1, it has now been endowed with a new movement as well. It takes a new and particularly realistic approach by combining the moon-phase display with a day/night indicator.
More than 50 years after the first spacecraft landed on the moon’s surface, we have still not yet unlocked all of the secrets of our planet’s companion. Thus, even in 2016, scientists can-not conclusively answer questions about the origins of the moon. This mystery keeps humankind interested in our closest celestial neighbour and underpins the fascination of one
of the most coveted astronomical complications: the moon-phase display. It tracks the lunar cycle – with an average duration of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds – so
accurately that it takes 122.6 years for the display to deviate from the true synodic period by just one day.
The arrangement of the display is based on a new, particularly realistic concept. A separate solid-gold moon pursues its orbit in the foreground. Behind it, a celestial disc – also made of solid gold – performs exactly one revolution every 24 hours. On the disc, the different times of day are represented by varying blue hues caused by interference effects. During the day, it shows a bright sky without stars, while at night it depicts a dark sky with prominently contrasting laser-cut stars. Thus, the moon always orbits against a realistic background that doubles as a day/night indicator when setting the watch.
The now 20th Lange calibre with a moon-phase display is based on the LANGE 1 movement introduced two years ago, and it has the same performance attributes. This includes the characteristic twin mainspring barrel with a maximum power reserve of 72 hours and the precisely jumping outsize date display. The LANGE 1 MOON PHASE also features an escapement with a cam-poised balance and a free-sprung Lange hairspring. Suspended beneath the hand-engraved balance cock, it beats with a frequency of 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour.
The 70 parts for the moon-phase display were so cleverly integrated in the L121.3 manufacture calibre that it is only marginally larger than the calibre L121.1 inside the LANGE 1. The asymmetric solid-silver dial sets a remarkably harmonious stage for the luminous time and power-reserve indications complemented with an outsize date, the moon-phase display, and the day/night indicator. The LANGE 1 MOON PHASE is available in white gold/black, pink gold/argenté, and platinum/rhodié case/dial combinations.
ZEITWERK 2009–2019
In 2009, A. Lange & Söhne surprised the horological community with a precisely jumping digital display. Since then, ZEITWERK has become a watch family with five models that are luminous, indicate the time acoustically, and, starting in 2019, show the date as well.
The new face of time
Since it was introduced in 1994, the LANGE 1 was the “typical face” of A. Lange & Söhne. With its unusual asymmetric dial design, it took the world of timepieces by surprise and now ranks among the watch classics of the 20th century. Fifteen years later, with a mechanical digital display of unprecedented clarity, Lange’s developers established a further milestone.
When they developed the ZEITWERK, Lange’s engineers questioned everything – except the mechanical paradigm. The result is a mechanical watch with a digital display and a compelling technical concept. Its unique functional principle with mechanically powered, precisely jumping numerals also appeals to purists who could not imagine ever wearing a digital watch.
The time bridge in German silver is one of the most prominent signature elements of its dial. The material, traditionally used by Lange for frame parts such as bridges and cocks, makes it clear that it is a component of the movement. At the same time, it constitutes the stage for all time indications. The apertures with the large hour and minute displays are arranged from left to right. This sets the ZEITWERK apart from the plethora of analogue mechanical watches, establishing a category of its own .
On the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of the ZEITWERK, Lange’s mechanical digital watch was endowed with a newly designed movement that delivers twice the power reserve of previous ZEITWERK models. It is equipped with an additional function: a ring-shaped date display, perfectly harmonised with the ZEITWERK design, circles the dial. The circumferential date ring consists of glass with printed numerals from 1 to 31. The current date is displayed in red. To achieve this effect, a small colour segment on a ring beneath the date ring performs one step exactly at midnight. So in the course of a month, it moves around the dial by one full revolution. With this arrangement, the date is always clearly legible at all times and also recognisable intuitively. The date and hour displays can be corrected with two separate buttons.
