A. Lange & Söhne Watch Company

Ferdinand A. Lange was a fine watchmaker from Dresden, Germany. In his humanitarian quest to give the people of Glashütte jobs and uplift the economic status of the town, he established a modest watch factory that initially set to train up 15 apprentices in 1845. Lange’s passion and dedication to his craft resulted in high quality watches, this continued until his death in 1868, where his sons Emil and Richard operated under the father’s name A. Lange & Söhne. Richard Lange was a fine horologist just like his father and during his time with the company his most important discovery was patented.  The patent was for “Metal Alloy for Watch Springs” in which beryllium was added to the metal used for balance spring. This eventually resulted in the creation of the Nivarox balance spring that is used in most high end mechanical watches today.

Under Richard Lange the company flourished and had a further 27 patents.  However by the time the company entered its third generation, Lange & Söhne had already endured both WW I and II.  It was with the destruction of the Lange factory during WW II and the subsequent division of Germany that tragically brought a 40-year hiatus to the company.  Walter Lange, a fourth generation Lange, re-founded and re-established A. Lange & Söhne on December 7, 1990; exactly 145 years after his great-grandfather first founded it.

With just a skeletal force A. Lange & Söhne came out with a new set of Lange watches four years later. The first collection of wristwatches was the Lange 1, the Saxonia, the Arkade and the Tourbillon “Pour le Mérite”.

To pay homage to the 165^th year of A. Lange & Söhne, the collection Homage to F.A. Lange Edition has the Tourbograph “Pour le Mérite”, Lange 1 Tourbillon and the 1815 Moonphase.  The unique aspect to these pieces is a special honey-gold metal alloy used for the anniversary timepieces.

How exclusive are these time pieces?

The Tourbograph “Pour le Mérite” “Homage to F. A. Lange” is a limited edition of 101 pieces. As of this writing there are only currently 51 pieces made. The completion of the next 50 pieces will take a while to finish since the manufacture of this timepiece takes a month to finish.

The Lange 1 Tourbillon “Homage to F. A. Lange” is perfection in motion. This anniversary timepiece has a patented stop-seconds mechanism allowing the owner to stop the balance at any point. For better visuals, the tourbillon aperture in the dial is expanded.

The 1815 Moonphase “Homage to F. A. Lange” is also in 18 karat honey-colored gold. This watch needs no resetting as long as the watch runs without interruption and is set to the correct time. The moon phase of this timepiece would have to be eventually corrected by one day, after 1058 years.

The 1815 MOONPHASE “Homage to F. A. Lange” in 18-carat honey-colored gold is an impressive demonstration of how Lange’s master watchmakers interpret accurate time measurement: provided the watch runs without interruption and remains set to the correct time, it will take 1058 years before the moon phase of this masterpiece needs to be corrected by one day.

To date  A. Lange & Söhne has several collections: Lange Zeitwerk;  Lange 1; Saxonia;  1815; Richard Lange;  Datograph; Cabaret;  Double Split; Langematik Perpetual; Lange 31 and  Jeweled timepieces.

What makes A. Lange & Söhne watches stand out are the company’s ability to merge the traditional elements with innovative technology. Every  A. Lange & Söhne watch has the following traditional elements: whiplash precision index adjuster; hand-engraved balance cock; screwed gold chatons; up/down power reserve indicator; a ¾ plate;  untreated German silver;  blued screws; fusée and chain and the diamond endstone.

A. Lange & Söhne is now under the wings of Richemont group of companies. In 2007 the company released a mechanical watch with a 31-day reserve.  The watch only needs to be wound monthly by a special key.  The 46 mm wide and 16 mm deep platinum and rose gold watch is modestly priced at $180,000.

Parmigiani Watch

Switzerland has always been associated with quality watches. It could be said that majority of fine watchmakers are Swiss. Switzerland has produced some of the best watchmakers of our time.

Michael Parmigiani was 25 years old when he out up the Parmigiani Mesure et Art du Temps in Fleurier, Switzerland. The company focused more in watch repair than in the manufacture of watches. Parmigiani is an outstanding watchmaker for it was he who repaired Breguet’s Pendule Sympatetique which even the “experts” in Breguet deemed quite an impossible feat.

In 1996, Sandoz Family Foundation bought a controlling hold on Parmigini’s company. Sandoz is a trusted name in Swiss watches since 1870. In 1971, the company split up into four divisions: Sandoz Hong Kong; Sandoz Singapore; Sandoz Spain and Sandoz Swiss. The four groups of company are all under the Sandoz umbrella but each group has its own collections. Sandoz Swiss takes care of the high-end luxury units.  In 1996, Parmigiani released its first line of watches for men and women and a Grande Complication. In watch technology a “complication” means that the features are more than a display of time, date and day. Complications encompass 24-hour watch, tourbillon, chronograph, moon phases, perpetual calendar, minute repeater and more.

In 2001, Sandoz acquired three other companies. They are Bruno Affolter, a company that makes watch cases,  SA, Atokalpa SA and Elwin SA, both manufacturers of watch components. The three companies merged in 2003 to form the Vaucher Manufacturer which makes the components needed by Parmagiani watches.  By the same year, Parmigiani Mesure et Art du Temps which means The Measurement of Art and Time, ^was renamed Parmigiani Fleurier.

Parmigiani watches are divided into three major lines – for men, women and novelty items.  The women’s collection comprise of Kalpa Piccola;  Kalpa Donna; Kalparisma; Kalpa Grande;  Chronograph; the Chronograph Fly-back; the Quantieme Perpetuel  Retrograde; the Tourbillon and Jewellerey.  Under Jewellerey is the limited edition of Kalpa Grande Automatic Gold & Palladium –automatic winding movement with 55 hours of reserve power, with day-date, hours, minutes, and in 18 karat gold (yellow, white or rose) and 950 palladium finish.  The Retrograde Perpetual calendar aside from its features of hours, minutes, seconds, precision moon phase, perpetual calendar with apertures are set with 60 baguette-cut diamonds.  Case is in 18 karat gold and has the prestige of incorporating Hermes alligator with tongue buckle.

For men, the collection is composed of: Kalpa Grande; Kalpa XL; Tonda; Chronograph; Chronograph Fly-back;  GMT;  Retrograde Perpetual calendar; Tourbillon,  Bugatti type 370; Grand Complications and the line of Limited Editions.  Exceptional is the Bugatti type 370 series. This is the first watch that has a transverse movement which makes it possible for the dial to face the user as his hands grip the steering wheel of a car. This is the perfect watch for race car drivers.   A limited edition came out of the assembly line to commemorate Bugatti’s centennial. Aptly called Bugatti Centenaire, there are only 200 pieces of this limited edition. The watch is very special as the Chevron engravings on each piece required more than 300 hours of superb craftsmanship to finish, thanks to the Philippe Bodenmann, unique and talented artisan.  The two limited editions are in 18-karat rose gold and platinum 950.  A regular Bugatti type 370 series watch is pegged at £200,000.

Under the novelty series are the Bugatti Atalante series for men and women; Kalparisma; Pershing 002; Pershing Tourbillon and the Tondagraph.

For a watch company that officially began in 2001, Parmigiani Fleurier is definitely among the top watch company today.  Parmigiani’s humble beginning of a watch repairman is still evident as he continues to challenge himself in restoring historical time pieces.

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Franck Muller Watch

Franck Muller is known by his peers as the “Master of Complications”.  As child his interest in what makes clock “tick” set him off to study watch making at the prestigious Geneva School of Watch on 1981. After four years of extensive studies with him graduating with honours, Muller decided to set up how own shop as opposed to joining the already established watch companies. Franck Muller is a watch-maker in the truest sense of the word.

In no time, Muller’s reputation as an excellent watch maker spread.  Watch collectors and prominent auction houses were sending Muller time pieces for repair.  In 1983, Muller presented his first line of wristwatches. Each year from then on he unveils a new creation and invention.  The first watch that premiered under Franck Muller was the Long Island Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Dia.  The Revolution Tourbillon is a “flying tourbillon” where the tourbillion carriage comes up levelled to the sapphire glass and remains so until the push-button is released.  The hour and minute hands “fly” to 12 o-clock then “fly” back to the real time when the push-button is released. His first patent was The Tourbillon (1983) where a single axis was used.  A classic example of this invention is the Crazy-Hour Tourbillon. The watch is unique because aside from the new concept-tourbillion, the numbers on the dial are not in the expected sequence. The normal 1 to 12 clockwise rotation does not happen as the numbers skip all over the dial.

Other inventions that premiered are:  Revolution 2 Tourbillon; Totally Crazy; Master Banker Lunar Tourbillon; Crazy Hour Tourbillon; Minute Repeater Tourbillon; Irregular Retrogade Hour with Moon Phases and the Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar and the Curvex Minute Repeater Tourbillon of which there are only 25 pieces made.

In 1992 Franck Muller established his own watch company aptly named The House of Franck Muller. He was compelled to establish a watch factory for his growing clientele. In 1998 marked the year that Franck Muller conceptualized, designed and created the “most complicated” watch in the history of watch-making. The wristwatch is combination of Petite  and Grande Sonnerie with 3 positions, a flying Tourbillon,  Perpetual Calendar with a traditional monthly equation, 24-hour indicator, Minute Repeater,  a split-second Chronograph with a 60-minute timer, an internal temperature indicator, a power-reserve movement and a power-reserve striking-mechanism.

In 2001 Muller saw to the construction of the “Watchland”- his company’s factory where guests can make appointments to tour the place. This concept made it possible for the public to view the manufacture and assembly of a watch from start to finish.

Today Franck Muller creations are more accessible to consumers as production does not depend on personal orders anymore. There are now dealers from the United States and Canada. Franck Muller watches are elegant, efficient, innovative and precise aside from being “quite” complicated. Each Franck Muller watch is stamped with the words “Master of Complications”. The phrase could be taken literally or figuratively. Telling the time using Franck Muller’s Crazy Hour watch is such an ingenious and fun idea. Truly the man has every right to be called a genius!

To date, Franck Muller has several collections that showcase his innovations and talent.  The Mariner debuted in 2008 and is a chronograph that displays hours and minutes, seconds and date.  The Cintree Curvex is a complicated watch but with new contour.  Other collection lines are: Casablanca; Chronograph; Colour Dreams; Conquistador; the Jewellery line; Long Island line; Master Banker; Master Calendar; Perpetual Calendar; the Tourbillon and the Grandprix.

The Colour Dreams collection is for the young-at-heart as the very colourful watches in Crazy Hour or Master Square details are “hip” and “young”.  The Perpetual calendar will give its wearer the most accurate reading of time.  The Jewellery line has the accuracy and precision of a Franck Muller watch plus Top Wesselton diamonds.

Franck Muller merges the traditional and the modern to make beautiful and precise one-of-a-kind watches.

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