142.055, Zeitwerk Lumen, Honeygold

In 2009, A. Lange & Söhne took home the Aigulle d'Or from the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève for the Zeitwerk in the year of its debut. The following year, Lange released thoroughly reworked Zeitwerk for their best clients, the first ever A. Lange & Söhne 'Lumen' model featuring a sapphire dial with luminous, exposed time discs. A second generation Zeitwerk was released in 2019, updating movement technology to improve performance and usability. This ref. 142.055 is the Lumen offering for that second generation. It is limited to just 200 examples and made in Lange’s proprietary Honeygold material, a pale gold alloy with increased hardness and scratch resistance reserved for the brand’s most exclusive offerings. 

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 more so the Zeitwerk's inline apertures. It was Blümlein who first had the idea of creating a digital watch, but a separate team carried out the challenge. It required over 5 years of development, according to Anthony de Haas. The 'Time Bridge' design was penned by Nils Bode, while Jens Schneider was tasked with engineering the highly technical mechanics beneath. 

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 manual Caliber L043.1 debuted in the first Zeitwerk is like nothing else, which becomes obvious when you study the caseback with its anchor bridge that carries the constant force mechanism, escapement, balance wheel, and winding gears, all hand-finished to an exceptional standard. In 2009, this was the greatest shock Germany had ever sent to the Swiss watchmaking industry. 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 case was made as thin as was possible for all the mechanical complication, 41.9mm at 12.6mm thin. The unique crown at 2 was a direct consequence of movement architecture, while the rest was Lange's usually teutonic 3-piece construction with contrast finish.

This was the most audacious aesthetic A. Lange & Söhne had ever dared create in 2010. Anthony De Haas, Director of Product for the original Zeitwerk, had the idea after trying and struggling to read the time on his own Zeitwerk at night. The obvious solution would be luminous discs, but as the Zeitwerk's discs change so frequently the numerals aren't exposed long enough to 'charge' in sunlight before going back behind the dial. The only possible solution was to allow the discs to charge through a smoked sapphire dial which allows only UV to penetrate.

The fundamental concept and solution created one of the most distinct, now legendary A. Lange & Söhne aesthetics. Where the original ‘Phantom’ highlighted the luminous material through its monochromatic aesthetics, the Honeygold brings balance through a touch of warmth in the lovely pale gold case and the uncoated time-bridge. Like the calibre L043.3 from the original Zeitwerk Lumen, the top-side of the Honeygold Lumen’s calibre L043.9 had to be hand finished as components would be occasionally visible through the smoked saphire. However, the L043.9 has the benefit of the technical improvements of the second generation Zeitwerk. It features a constant force escapement and a pusher corrected hour mechanism increasing part count to a staggering 462, along with an increase in power reserve from 36 to 72 hours.

Lange has reserved the Lumen treatment for their most audacious technical projects such as the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon. It is the more teutonic and reserved equivalent to a very limited skeletonized release of the Swiss. This monolithic, almost villainous aesthetic began in the Phantom, but is now one of the core identities for the most special of A. Lange & Söhne releases. While the subtle dial changes in the second generation Zeitwerk may not convey a sense of technical achievement, make no mistake, its movement is a technical masterpiece worthy of celebration.

This 140.055 presents in excellent overall condition. The Honeygold case shows only light surface wear. Its dial is immaculate, showing no signs of wear or patina. The calibre L043.9 is running well within spec. on our timing equipment. It comes with its full set, original strap, and pin buckle.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.