148.038, Zeitwerk Date, White Gold

In 2009, A. Lange & Söhne took home the top Aigulle d'Or award at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève for the Zeitwerk in the year of its debut. Since then, the Zeitwerk has evolved in many ways. The calibre has become friendlier to set, thanks to an hour pusher. And, in 2019, this ref. 148.038 was the first Zeitwerk to offer a date, a feature which roughly half of all watch buyers would prefer to be able have. In addition, the calibre received several significant updates. It is a decidedly modern Zeitwerk, purposefully easier to live with while losing none of the magic that made the Zeitwerk such a lightning rod one decade earlier. 

 The Zeitwerk was inspired by the Dresden Opera House clock built by Johann Gutkaes with help of one Ferdinand A. Lange in 1841. Its mechanical 'Five-Minute' clock was the inspiration for the Lange 1 date window, but even moreso the Zeitwerk's inline apertures. It was Blümlein who first had the idea of creating a digital watch, but a separate team that carried out the challenge. That challenge required over 5 years of development, according to Anthony de Haas. Having studied many previous digital pocket watches and clocks, the decision was made to innovate in design with an exposed bridge on the dial, which gives the Zeitwerk its distinctive winged shape, penned by Nils Bode. The crown at 2 was a direct consequence of the movement architecture.  

The jumping discs were made possible through the largest mainspring A. Lange & Söhne had made and a very intricate constant force remontoir, the work of Jens Schneider. Because it takes much more energy to turn all three discs than just one, a windflüge (windbrake in English) mechanism was invented to deplete excess energy when full power is not required. It works like a fan to bleed off the excess energy through air resistance and not damage the single disc with too much power. In wearing, you can feel a snap of energy when the remontoir releases its energy to move the massive discs. 

The updated calibre L043.8 incorporates two pushers, one to advance the hour and one to advance the date (both actioned upon release). The date disc is a sapphire ring with a red square to highlight the correct date, leaving the Zeitwerk harmony uninterrupted. The remontoir bridge has been straightened, where prior it was an anchor shape. While less visible, the Zeitwerk date incorporates a new double barrel mainspring to provide enough power to snap all four time discs at once. 

The Zeitwerk Date brings the most technically innovative pillar of A. Lange & Söhne into a new era, more tailored to be a part of daily life. Importantly, the Zeitwerk Date loses none of the austere magic that made the Zeitwerk so special. The influence of Günter Blümlein and Anthony De Haas has not been lost in the slightest. 

This Zeitwerk Date presents in excellent overall condition. The case is extremely full with very sharp edges and only light signs of occasional wear visible on its surfaces. The dial shows no aberrations or signs of wear. It comes on its original strap with a factory Lange pin buckle clasp in white gold.

This watch is modelled on a relatively large 7.5 inch wrist.