At the Watches & Wonders Shanghai show, A. Lange & Söhne has released a three-watch collection from its 1815 family to celebrate the brand’s 175th anniversary and pay tribute to its founder F. A. Lange. Out of the three special edition pieces, the only watch that is distinctly new is the 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold “Homage to F.A. Lange”. It is the first Rattrapante-only complicated watch from Lange. That’s not all; the watch, in fact, represents a lot of firsts for the watchmaker. The limited-edition is also the thinnest split-seconds chronograph made by Lange to date along with being the first Lange chronograph in the brand’s proprietary Honeygold alloy. The gold alloy is said to be considerably harder than platinum and is a lot more scratch-resistant than standard 18k gold.
The new Rattrapante Honeygold measures 41.2mm x 12.6mm, which is surprisingly slim for a highly-complicated Lange or even for split-seconds watch. The case, as mentioned before, is in Honeygold allow, while the dial is also a departure from Lange usual use of silver and is instead presented in black, offering a beautiful contrast with the gold alloy. The dial gets matching gold markings done in granular, gold powder print, along with red accents at the quarters; however, Lange also went with an unusual configuration for the sub-dials, with the running seconds at 6 o’clock and the 30-second totalizer at 12 o’clock. Powering the watch is caliber L101.2, which has been derived from the caliber L101.1 found in the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar. Basically, it’s the same movement without the perpetual calendar complication. Other than that, the rattrapante clamps, wheel, column wheel, and arrangement of the lateral clutch are all same in both movements. The 365-part movement offers a power reserve of 58 hours. Only 100 examples will be made and will be available €130,000 (about $153,000).
