A Lange Sohne Lange 1 Tourbillon Limited Edition 704 025 A Lange Sohne Watch Review

Hi, this is Tim of The 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me, timosso at the1916company.com, for purchase pricing and availability questions concerning this watch. Today, a 150-piece limited edition in platinum launched in the year 2000. This is the Elango Unzona Elango 1 Torbjörn, reference 704.025. In platinum, it's massive, but it's not huge at 38.5 millimeters in diameter, 10.2 millimeters thick and only 46.9 from lug to lug with a 20 millimeter spacing between the lugs. It is heavy and it's an impressive piece on the wrist, not because it's hulking, but because it has that mass and that class. Elango Torbjörn is a special thing and you can see how easily it fits on my wrist. Now, it's an unbroken strap. It hasn't been softened up, so I'm pulling it very tight here. My wrist is compressed as a result, making the watch look larger than it is. You can easily wear this watch on a wrist as small as 14 centimeters circumference. My wrist, again, for reference is 16 and then it's flat enough to fit underneath any kind of a dress cuff or sleeve. We have a very nice strap cab on the bottom, no crimping, no gouging, brand new Elango factory strap, which is made in France. You can see on the top, large rectangular and very symmetrical scales. This is one of the best rectangular scale cuts I've seen. They spared no expense. This is a rare and expensive cut of the animal. We have a folded edge and a monotone stitch. We have a full clasp, which is a rarity on Elango, even on something like this. You can see this is a full deployant clasp, snap shut for security. It's made by, looks like, Bussolador and you can see a Swiss hallmark on it. That's because it is a Swiss made part, but this kind of clasp ensures you're not going to drop your watch while donning or removing it. Elango watches generally have pin buckles. This adds a lot of value. Now, taking a look at the case, you may wonder why was the clasp made in Switzerland? Well, Elango then and now doesn't make cases and clasps, so you can actually see the maker's marks oftentimes on the cases. That's why there is, for example, a Swiss hallmark on this German made watches case. The case is a fascinating piece with the step lugs first proposed by company co-founder, Gunther Blumlein, to give the watches a distinct look. You can see there's a bit of a soft bevel on the lug profile, and then we've got satination in the case band. That's not always used on Elango watches. Sometimes they're full polish. This gives it a little bit of distinction. There is a trigger that has the tactile pleasure and fun factor of a fine column wheel chronograph, and you can use it to adjust the panorama datum, which started as a JLC patent. It was given by Blumlein to Elango during the startup phase because he was running IWC and JLC and Elango all at once back in the early 1990s. The dial is made of sterling silver with the exception of the indices, the numerals, and the hands and the frame for the date, which are all white gold. We have a lovely polished steel half bridge for the tourbillon, and if you look carefully, you could see that the capstone to the tourbillon is a genuine diamond. We have synthetic rubies on this watch, but we also have a genuine diamond. If you look at the shape of the tourbillon cage, you can also see that it is in the form of historic German pocket watch tourbillon regulators from the early 20th century. It's a three hertz beat rate. It's manual wind. It actually does have still the three days of power reserve you would get on a standard Lange 1 without the tourbillon, but this caliber L961.1 is the first version of that movement. As a result, you may be wondering, well, why doesn't it have hacking seconds? Don't Lange tourbillon regulators hack? More recent ones do. This very first version does not, so just keep that in mind. You've got a power reserve indicator with up and down, up and down, and then you can see we've got an overcoil hairspring as well as an architecture that is fundamentally free sprung, so the overcoil for rate stability in different positions and the free sprung architecture to make it easier to adjust precisely. On the back, we have Baroque freehand engraving on flanking bridges, one for the terminal end of the drive train before the tourbillon and then another under the tourbillon itself. Beautiful stuff. You could see on this low volume model with more space to work with and more time to work, the artisans were able to create a unique floral motif with volutes and leaves and even the petals of flowers, vines, it's all there. Beveling, well, beveling is there, mirrored on gloss. We've got both polished and fire-blued screws. We've got a three-quarter style bridge and all bridges and plates are made of German silver, which is a nickel copper zinc alloy. Those are both elements from the pocket watch era of Lange watchmaking. This is all 30 meters water resistant, so splash and rain, not for submergence. The shape of the wheels is also evocative of old German pocket watches and clocks. That's what that spoke design represents. We have engine turning in several sizes on the lower plates. You can see even this access panel for easier service features beveling around its edge and then we have golden Chaton cups that are fixed into the bridges and plates by blued screws. This is a nod to the way pocket watches were made in Germany and also in Switzerland in olden times. Remember, the original Lange & Söhne traces its roots back to 1845, but the modern one only to 1990s. They wanted to reconnect with their heritage. That's why you have so many pocket watch elements here and so in vintage times, you would press the jewel into a precision golden cup. It would then be set into the bridger plates using screws because it was very difficult to press jewels directly into bridges and plates and so that's why the Chaton cups were used. They're used here for ornamental and traditional reasons and everything you see, suffice to say, is the best available with stripes across the bridges and the kind of aesthetic you expect from the finest watches no matter where they are made. A deeply impressive watch. It all pivots on 49 jewels and it's adjusted in five positions, which is the hyrology and chronometer standard. It's even a fairly large movement as Lange was ahead of its time in sizing movements properly for cases at 30.6 millimeters. So, reach out to team also at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing details of this fantastic twin-barrel platinum tourbillon.