The A.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honey Gold “Lumen”

Introduction

The A.Lange & Söhne‘s collectors were delighted when the Saxon brand took the curtain off the A.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honey Gold «Lumen» yesterday. The newcomer’s hype broke the Internet as soon as this “disruptive” piece appeared anywhere on social media and blogs.

“Lumen” originally debuted on a Datograph and now keeps being a unicorn in Haute Horlogerie. With the introduction of the new timepiece, the brand’s engineers thoroughly improved and stepped up the mechanics, with the main visible achievement being that the maximum power reserve now totals 72 hours, thus twice as much as the original one.

A new calibre for the high-end digital mechanical watch par excellence

A.Lange & Söhne‘s engineers are masters of micromechanics and have worked painstakingly to improve the L043.9 calibre. Technicians took the launch of the new “Lumen” as a chance to deploy substantial improvements in either performance and usability along with the “Lumen” signature design, i.e. allowing the lucky owner to enjoy viewing the entire chain powering the three digital hours and minutes discs. Additionally, the push-button located at four will enable you to quickly advance the hour disc in one-hour increments, on par with what you’ll use to perform on any analogue timepiece offering the hour hand adjustment (despite running in one direction, here).

The adjustment mechanism is refined and consumer-oriented since the disc advances once you’re releasing the push button, thus equalizing the jump-hour instantaneous performance whatever the force applied. Also, the mechanism houses a clutch to allow the jumping hour change not to affect the elapsed hour. In brief, once released, the visualized hour is catching up with the running hour. Initially introduced with the Zeitwerk Date, the quick-release adjustment allows you to adjust in one-hour increments instead of running a full 60-minute circle like on a first-gen Zeitwerk.

World’s firsts: “Lumen” and Honey Gold meet the Zeitwerk

Taking the technical package aside for a while, let’s spend some time talking about two first for any Zeitwerk: Honey Gold and Lumen. The see-through dial is nothing new, but it adds to the model’s appeal by revealing Zeitwerk‘s inner mechanisms and visually “slimming down” the watch’s design. The once-hidden wheels and numerals light up through the smoked sapphire crystal disc as the day turns to dim or no light. TheA.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honey Gold “Lumen”‘s two-face personality is an eye-catcher.

The Saxon savoir-faire is distinctive and pleasing but can’t minimize the collection’s weak point, i.e., case size. While I accept the large 41.9 mm diameter, given the unique mechanical layout, I conversely believe its thickness still is a letdown and a deal-breaker for some brand’s collectors, most of which come from Asian markets. The A.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honey Gold “Lumen” is 12.6 mm thick, a bit too much for a timepiece this classic.

A 200-piece limited edition

A.Lange & Söhne will craft 200 pieces of the new Zeitwerk Honey Gold “Lumen”, not a tiny number for a manufacturer this boutique whose product volumes are rather small; however, let’s consider each timepiece requires long assembly and fine-tune manufacturing time; we, therefore, expect that A.Lange & Söhne will take far more than one fiscal year to complete (and deliver) each piece. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they sold out already.

Here is the one and only “Zeitwerk to Honey Gold to Lumen” combo so far. From a technical perspective, the new calibre adds ingenuity to top-notch Saxon refinement, reaching the highest peaks in luxury-premium watchmaking. The A.Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Honey Gold “Lumen” retails for 116.900 euros.

(Photo credit: courtesy of A.Lange & Söhne)

Gaetano C @Horbiter®

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