102nd Auction

2020/6/29

Lot 43

A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte i/SA, "ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME", Movement No. 110133, Case No. 222380, Ref. 145.032, Cal. L043.2, 44 mm, circa 2015

A heavy and extremely rare Glashuette wristwatch in mint condition, with digital time indication by a jumping numerals display for hours and minutes, auxiliary seconds with seconds stop device, acoustic signal for quarter hours and hours and power reserve indicator - with original box, operating instructions, Lange-booklet and Lange-guarantee seal dated January 7, 2016. This is the first "ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME" model in 18K red gold ever to appear in an international auction!
Case: 18k pink gold, screwed on glazed back, pusher for activating the acoustic signal, "Lange" 18k pink gold buckle. Dial: solid silver, rhodié, jumping minutes, 2 hammers / 2 gongs.
The ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME is the world’s first mechanical wristwatch with a jumping numerals display and a visible chiming mechanism. The full hour is indicated with a reverberant low-pitched tone, each quarter-hour with a clear high-pitched tone. The ZEITWERK STRIKING TIME tells the time with large jumping numerals. The hours in the left-hand aperture and the minutes on the right are distinctly legible. The two stainless steel gong hammers beneath the two numerals apertures strike the circumferential gongs, which are suspended between the dial and the bezel.
The steel of which the gongs are made is hardened in an elaborate process that involves several consecutive steps. To optimise the acoustics of the gongs, the weights of the two hammers, their impact angles and their impact speeds must be accurately harmonised.
Every quarter-hour, the right-hand hammer strikes a gong to produce a clear, high-pitched tone. At the top of every hour, the left-hand hammer sounds a lower-pitched tone. In fast-forward, these tones would play the opening fanfare of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The pusher in the case flank on the right backs the hammers away from the gongs and blocks them, thus disarming the striking function. When the winding crown is pulled, the chiming mechanism is also deactivated and uncoupled, allowing the time to be set in either direction. The jumping numerals mechanism always delivers a precise reading of time because the discs advance instantaneously rather than in the creep mode. It consists of two minute discs and a large hour ring that occupies the entire diameter of the movement. All numerals are identical in size and arranged for natural left-to-right reading.
The constant-force escapement assures the steady flow of power to the balance and, every 60 seconds, the precise switching of the numerals. Some of the energy released when the numeral discs are braked after each jump is absorbed by a fly governor and transmitted to the chiming mechanism. Every time a numeral disc advances, the hammer that executes the next strike visibly moves up a fraction of the way toward the centre of the watch. This tensions the spring that triggers the impact of the hammer against the gong at the right time.
Source: www.alange-soehne.com/en/timepieces/zeitwerk/#zeitwerk-striking-time/facts-and-figures, as of 08/25/2016.

Sold

estimated
50.00090.000 €
Price realized
52.000 €