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Record price for a RICHARD LANGE TOURBILLON "Pour le Mérite" HANDWERKSKUNST at SOTHEBY’s in Hong Kong.

A RICHARD LANGE TOURBILLON "Pour le Mérite" HANDWERKSKUNST changed hands for EUR 289.350 at a SOTHEBY’s auction in Hong Kong on 7th April 2013. This is a 62 per cent plus compared to the original retail price of EUR 178.500.

The model has been launched only two years ago. The piece auctioned off is number 8 out of a limited edition of only 15 pieces.

The cases are made of an innovative honey-coloured gold alloy which, with a Vickers hardness of more than 300 HV, is about twice as hard as yellow gold. Crafted from the same material, the dial is decorated with a so-called tremblage, a rare traditional engraving technique. With all its beautiful movement decorations, this timepiece takes horological artistry to a new level that merits the attribute “HANDWERKSKUNST” (“craftsmanship”).

The fourth “Pour le Mérite” timepiece presented by A. Lange & Söhne is a manifestation of artisanal virtuosity at the highest level and combines two complications – a fusée-and-chain trans-mission and a tourbillon – both designed explicitly to achieve the highest degree of precision. Its patented stop seconds mechanism allows the watch to be set with one-second accuracy. A round aperture in the regulator dial exposes the system, which revolves and oscillates at the same time. To prolong the duration of the delightful mechanical ballet for the observer, the adjacent hour dial features a cutaway portion. But precisely at 6 o’clock, the missing segment pivots into place and completes the hour ring until it instantly vanishes again exactly at 12 o’clock.


About A. Lange & Söhne
When Ferdinand A. Lange, a Dresden watchmaker, established his watch manufactory in 1845, he laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s precision watchmaking. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after World War II, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly fell into oblivion. In 1990, Ferdinand A. Lange’s great-grandson Walter Lange had the courage to relaunch the brand. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches in gold or platinum per year. They are endowed exclusively with proprietary move-ments that are lavishly decorated and assembled by hand. In a period of little more than 20 years, A. Lange & Söhne developed over 40 manufacture calibres and secured a top-tier position among the world’s finest watch brands. Its greatest successes include innovative time-keeping instruments such as the LANGE 1 with the first outsize date in a series produced wristwatch as well as the LANGE ZEITWERK with its supremely legible, precisely jumping numerals. Meanwhile, both models have become icons of a brand rich in tradition.



Original Language : English