Lot Essay
The 1815 Series
The name of the 1815 watch family is a reference to the year Ferdinand Adolph Lange was born. The present watch, the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, unites two refined classic complications in a wristwatch: a rattrapante-chronograph and a perpetual calendar with a moon-phase display. The ultimate combination of complications.
The Rattrapante Function
Rattrapante, roughly translating from French to “Catch up” is a chronograph movement with an additional seconds hand for the chronograph function superimposed over the normal seconds hand and an additional pusher. The first wrist chronographs with rattrapante hands emerged around 1912, and the movement was largely confined to pocket watches. In the 1930s, the movement was eventually miniaturized and the first serially produced basic movements with a split-seconds function were introduced in the 1940s. In 2004, Lange presented the double rattrapante chronograph: the DOUBLE SPLIT, the first of its kind in precision watchmaking. The watch featured two minute counters, and extended the range for lap-time measurements from 60 seconds to 30 minutes. In 2018, the TRIPLE SPLIT debuted and with the addition of a third, separately stoppable hand pair, the chronograph and rattrapante functions can now be used for measurements that last up to 12 hours. The challenge in creating this watch is the combination of two of the most popular complications among watch connoisseurs - the perpetual calendar and the split-second chronograph, while keeping the watch structured in a sizable manner. Another remarkable feature of the movement is the usage of its two column wheel chronograph mechanism for both its chronograph hands. Creating such a mechanism is very labour intensive but it enables the pusher action to run smoothly in comparison to other chronograph watches.
Not only is this watch aesthetically pleasing because of its classically beautiful dial with blue hands, it is also well-crafted and displays perfection in the art of Saxony watchmaking.
The name of the 1815 watch family is a reference to the year Ferdinand Adolph Lange was born. The present watch, the 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, unites two refined classic complications in a wristwatch: a rattrapante-chronograph and a perpetual calendar with a moon-phase display. The ultimate combination of complications.
The Rattrapante Function
Rattrapante, roughly translating from French to “Catch up” is a chronograph movement with an additional seconds hand for the chronograph function superimposed over the normal seconds hand and an additional pusher. The first wrist chronographs with rattrapante hands emerged around 1912, and the movement was largely confined to pocket watches. In the 1930s, the movement was eventually miniaturized and the first serially produced basic movements with a split-seconds function were introduced in the 1940s. In 2004, Lange presented the double rattrapante chronograph: the DOUBLE SPLIT, the first of its kind in precision watchmaking. The watch featured two minute counters, and extended the range for lap-time measurements from 60 seconds to 30 minutes. In 2018, the TRIPLE SPLIT debuted and with the addition of a third, separately stoppable hand pair, the chronograph and rattrapante functions can now be used for measurements that last up to 12 hours. The challenge in creating this watch is the combination of two of the most popular complications among watch connoisseurs - the perpetual calendar and the split-second chronograph, while keeping the watch structured in a sizable manner. Another remarkable feature of the movement is the usage of its two column wheel chronograph mechanism for both its chronograph hands. Creating such a mechanism is very labour intensive but it enables the pusher action to run smoothly in comparison to other chronograph watches.
Not only is this watch aesthetically pleasing because of its classically beautiful dial with blue hands, it is also well-crafted and displays perfection in the art of Saxony watchmaking.