There’s never been – or ever will be – an 1815 Chronograph like the ‘Hampton Court Edition’
The ‘piece-unique’ will be put up for charity auction on Nov 6
EVER since A Lange & Sohne teamed up five years ago with Concours of Elegance, an annual showcase of rare cars and Lange timepieces, the German watchmaker has created a unique watch every year for the winner of the event.
At the Sep 2-4 event this year, however, the one-of-a-kind watch was, for the first time, made for a charity auction.
The watch, the 1815 Chronograph “Hampton Court Edition”, named after the Concours of Elegance venue in England, will be put up for bidding by US-based auction house Phillips, in association with Bacs & Russo on Nov 6 in Geneva.
Phillips has set many record watch sales, including the one for the “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytona.
Proceeds from the auction of the Lange unique piece will go to The Prince’s Trust, a youth charity which the Prince of Wales, Charles (now King Charles III), started in 1976.
Lange’s chief executive Wilhelm Schmid said: “We are proud to have the opportunity to support the important work of The Prince’s Trust.”
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The 1815 Chronograph model began life in 2004. Right from the start, it has been a marriage of classic design and progressive technology.
A reflection of artisanal perfection and refined details, the flyback chronograph watch is designed to be legible.
With its Arabic numerals, a railway-track minute scale and slightly shifted sub-dials, the dial of the watch harks back to Lange’s historic pocket timepieces.
For the “Hampton Court Edition”, the 1815 Chronograph is presented in a never-before-seen white-gold case with a black dial, featuring sandstone-coloured numerals and scales.
On the dial’s circumference is a tachometer scale for average speeds to be calculated.
Considering the occasion for which the watch was created, the tachometer scale highlights the historic link between motor sport and time measurement.
The sub-dials and hands of the watch are rhodie-coloured to provide contrast with the black dial, while good legibility is ensured by the rhodiumed gold hour and minute hands, as well as rhodiumed steel chronograph hand – all framed in a 39.5 mm wide white-gold case with a strap in black, hand-stitched leather.
A solid white-gold prong buckle completes the ensemble.
Like all Lange movements, this chronograph movement is assembled twice, and has a column-wheel control, which is superior to – and more expensive than – the cam-lever used in other chronographs.
The movement, which also features a precisely jumping minute counter, has a power reserve of 60 hours.
A large cam-poised balance wheel driven by a freely oscillating hairspring crafted in-house assures excellent rate accuracy.
With a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), the watch displays stopped times to an accuracy of one-fifth of a second.
The lavishly hand-finished chronograph movement has an open 3-D architecture, evident in the subtly composed choice of different materials and surface trimmings.
This construction reveals the details of the complex switching process, as well as the artistically hand-engraved balance cock with Lange’s iconic whiplash spring.
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