I was very fortunate to be invited by the Lange UK Team to attend the Summer Solstice Dinner in London... to be more precise at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. Actually, I had a lot of good reasons to accept such invitation. The pleasure to spend one evening with the Lange team. The pleasure to meet my British friends in their homeland. And the pleasure to visit again the Rotal Observatory because if I remember well, the first and last time I entered this building was 30 years ago...
So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited by the perspective of such event not to mention the cruise (yes, I can call this a cruise) on the River Thames to reach the Greenwich Pier from the Temple Pier. Again, a lot of good memories came back to my mind and I realized that London has faced a lot of changes for several decades. The observation of both Thames banks is a good way to assess the city evolution. Anyway, even if I love London, I couldn't forget my objective: to handle the novelties I couldn't see at the SIHH. I propose you to browse the pictures I took during the event.
The meeting point was at the Temple Pier to take the boat to Greenwich. Obviously, I put a Lange watch on the wrist like the main part of the friends/collectors who were also on the boat!
My faithful Grand Lange One on the wrist:
But a guest star brought the mighty Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar Terraluna...
And the guest star was... Tony, the MAN! Himself! And when Tony is here you can be sure about two things: it will be fun and he will bring some heavy stuff: I was not disappointed since he brought with him the three pieces I couldn't see in Paris a few weeks before: the Lange 31 with grey dial - the Zeitwerk Decimal Strike and of course the big baby of the year, the Tourbograph Perpetual Pour le Mérite.
One of the guests was wearing this Grand Lange One first edition... and we could immortalize the meeting of two Grand Lange One...
And this guest is of course Mo!
In the meantime, we were approaching Tower Bridge...
We were so close that we sailed below the bridge:
Tower Bridge offers a spectacular view:
One of the collectors was wearing the lovely Langematik Anniversary featuring its typical enamel dial with the red twelve on top:
Getting closer to Greenwich!
A guest was wearing this spectacular Grand Lange One with a gold bracelet. Look at the size of the end link.
Hello New-Orleans!
Then, we disembarked at the Greenwich Pier and we reached the Royal Observatory located on top of a hill for obvious reasons. And even if I wasn't watching the sky or the stars, I could take advantage of the beautiful scenery. London is such an amazing city when the weather is full of sunshine!
Here we are!
The choice of the venue was perfect. The link between the history of the Royal Observatory, its purpose and the current high end mechanical watches is obvious. Moreover, 2017 is for Lange a very "moonphase" year with several pieces featuring this complication, one of them combining the moonphase display with a day/night one.
Sunset on the Royal Observatory:
Feast for the eyes... and for the ears!
The guests were enjoying the party. Watches, watches and watches, let's talk about watches!
Let's have a look at some pieces I could shoot during the event.
The grey dial of the Datograph Perpetual with roman numerals (my fav version):
Three Lange fans all together:
The iconic Datograph, the first version with its roman numerals and its 39mm case diameter:
There is a hidden place around the Royal Observatory: its garden. Can you imagine that it offers such view? So close to the City of London!
The Royal Observatory from the Garden:
It is not a sculpture depicting two dancing dolphins... it is actually a sundial!
The Royal Observatory:
London and its business life are so close and so far...
Our hosts!
Inside the Royal Observatory:
With Robert Hoffmann, a young and very gifted watchmaker, manager of the Zeitwerk team. You have to consider a big difference between a Manufacture like Lange and a "traditional" Swiss Manufacture. It is something I could feel many times: the responsibilities given to the young watchmakers. In Saxony, the overall age average is lower than in Switzerland but the management doesn't hesitate to quickly promote the gifted watchmakers. It is very positive in a pure human resources management point of view and these responsibilities allow to maintain a certain staff stability and to avoid to lose the time investment to train the watchmakers.
Robert Hoffmann at work:
Here are the two "big" novelties. I presented you the other 2017 pieces in the report of the presentation which took place at the Paris boutique. I will come back later with more details about them.
The Tourbograph Perpetual Pour le Mérite. I was a bit afraid by its size when I read the press release but in the end the 43mm diameter is fine on my wrist even if the watch is heavy. I like the dial lay-out and I find the date more legible than with the 1815 PC Rattrapante.
The Zeitwerk Decimal Striking is also a large watch (44,2mm) but the dial lay-out works very well in this context. I like the complication which gives its name to the watch and I find it very consistent with the digital display.
I'm less convinced by the Lange 31 days. I find this watch too large, too heavy and the way its huge amount of energy is controlled is in my mind more useful with a Zeitwerk than just the objective to get a large power reserve. The good point about this watch is that the darker dial reduces (a bit) the perceived size.
Ready for the dinner! What a beautiful room!
I need the same for the table of my dining room!
The simple yet delicious courses:
The view of the Royal Observatory from the dinner room... a quiet atmosphere perfect for the observation of the stars!
I couldn't resist, I thought that the big moonphase display was a gift... I hope that the Lange team is not looking for it!
At the end of the dinner, we came back to the Pier to take the boat back to London... and we could enjoy for the last time of the day the view on Tower Bridge which is, in my mind, the symbol of the entrance to the center of London. The small journey between Greenwich and London is really fantastic by night. I highly recommend it, frankly speaking I had the feeling to be in a different city.
The arrival at the Temple Pier was the end of this beautiful and perfectly organized event. Great people, great watches, great atmosphere, great scenery, I couldn't imagine a better context to see again the friends from London and the Lange team. I know that all the guests appreciated a lot this dinner.
I would like to thank a lot the Lange UK team and Andrew.
Fx
