A. Lange & Söhne, one of the German origin heavyweights of luxury watchmaking, is under the spotlight with the 1815 Chronograph, which presents the chronograph function in its purest and most refined form.
The stylish model, which met watch lovers at the 2018 SIHH fair, has a special place among Hi-End chronographs. The model, which offers features similar to the Boutique Edition version with the pulsometer (heart rate monitor) scale introduced in 2015, is the guest of our Hands-On corner in detail.
The stylish model comes in a case designed with a diameter of 39.5mm and a height of 11mm, offering an extremely comfortable use on the wrist with its balanced dimensions. The case, which includes both matte and glossy surfaces, is made of 18K rose gold. Offering a sporty look with its thick lugs and wide chronograph buttons, the case sports sapphire crystals with an anti-reflective coating on the front and back.
The dial accompanying the model completes the retro theme with the Bi-Compax layout, which is an indispensable feature of traditional chronographs. The dial, featuring a jet-black background on a solid silver plate, has a jumping minute counter at 4 o'clock and a small seconds sub-dial at 8 o'clock. The dial sports Arabic numeral indices and Dauphine-style hands, as well as a pulsometer scale.
The hand-wound Caliber L951.5 gives life to the model, which stands out with its design that refers to the early years of traditional watchmaking. The movement, which consists of 306 parts in total, beats at a frequency of 2.5Hz/18,000vph and offers a power reserve time of up to 60 hours when fully wound. The superior craftsmanship used in the movement, which also has a flyback chronograph feature with horizontal clutch and column-wheel coordinator, can be enjoyed down to the smallest detail due to the absence of the three-quarter plate. Handcrafted balance cock, golden chatons, blued screws, and angled polished bridges made of untreated German silver turn into a visual feast thanks to the sapphire crystal case back.
The list price for the model, which comes with hand-stitched black crocodile leather and a rose gold buckle, is 51,000 EUR.
