Introducing: The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 'Homage To Walter Lange'

Here's your first taste of 2018 A. Lange & Söhne goodness. And it's a pretty great way to start. The watch we have here is called the 1815 "Homage to Walter Lange," and it's an unusual jumping seconds watch that is inspired by a century-and-a-half-old complication created by none other than Ferdinand Adolph Lange himself.

In many ways, this is the 1815 as you know it and hopefully love it. The watch has a 40.5mm case rendered in yellow, rose, or white gold (as well as in steel – but more on that in a second), a solid silver dial with the sharp black printed numerals and chapter ring that the 1815 collection is known for, and a small seconds register at six o'clock. But you'll notice there's an extra center seconds hand and a pusher at two o'clock too. The central seconds hand is a stoppable deadbeat seconds complication. Yeah, I know – weird, right? You can use it as a sort of chronograph this way, starting and stopping the hand as you need. Personally, I find this to be a really charming and interesting complication and I look forward to seeing how it works in reality in January.

The independent seconds hand (one that can be stopped and started without stopping the watch) is thought to have been invented by Pouzait, a Genevan watchmaker, who presented his invention in 1776. The complication was used by Breguet in the "Marie Antoinette" pocket watch and was occasionally used by other watchmakers as well. It's similar to the Omega Chronostop, but the latter is slightly different, in that in the Chronostop, the seconds hand stops when you hold down the stop button, and then resets to zero when you release it. Along with the deadbeat seconds, this makes this new watch very much an insider's piece with very deep roots in watchmaking history; the independent seconds complication was the ancestor of the modern chronograph, which began to replace the independent seconds complication in the mid-1800s. According to Lange, A. Lange & Söhne was granted a patent for their version of the complication, in 1877.

The dial is every bit an 1815, but with a new complication added to the mix.

Powering this is a totally new movement, the caliber L1924. The name is a nod to Walter Lange, who was born in 1924, and who sadly passed away during last year's SIHH. While A. Lange & Söhne isn't sharing photos of the movement at this time, it's described as a pretty classic hand-wound Lange movement with three-quarter plate and excellent finishing. The L1924 is made of 253 total components, 36 of which are jewels (and three of those are in screed gold chatons), and it has a 60-hour power reserve.

The 1815 "Homage to Walter Lange" is a limited edition, with 145 pieces in white gold, 90 in pink gold, and 27 in yellow gold, with all three models retailing for €47,000. These numbers are drawn from important dates related to Walter Lange himself – 145 years separate the original founding of A. Lange & Söhne and when Walter Lange resurrected it, the resurrection took place in 1990, and that important event happened 27 years ago today. So there we go.

But wait! There's one more watch to look at. The black-dialed beauty you see above is the 1815 "Homage to Walter Lange" in steel. Yes, you read that right: steel. It is a unique piece (sorry, I know you were all hoping I'd say "non-limited edition") that is going to be auctioned for charity sometime in 2018. With its black enamel dial and stainless steel case, I have a funny feeling this is going to fetch pretty big money for whatever cause it benefits.

For more, visit A. Lange & Söhne online.

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