A. Lange & Söhne

amanico
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A. Lange & Sohne Richard Lange Pour le Mérite, real pics and impressions

The Lange Team invited us to attend at the SIHH Pre View, here, in Paris, in the Restaurant " Le Meurice ".

Foversta, Jerome and me were there with some very happy few Journalists, to see THE piece, The RL Pour Le Mérite.

" Understatement is a Quality, better, a Virtue " :



This watch is sober, but not austere.

The enamel dial has 3 levels, and is a bit a mix of the " normal " RL, and the LA Anniversary, as shown on Oliver's remarkable Photoshop work:



The 1st level is the Hour Indexes Zone, the 2d the Center of the dial, the third being the small seconds counter.

The Hour indexes and the 2 first levels are borrowed to the " normal " Richard Lange, while the small seconds counter and the blue heated hands obviously come from the Langematik Anniversary.





Sober, but Elegant:

Indeed, if this RL only had a normal white dial, it wouldn't have been the same impact!

I tried to capture the effect of the enamel dial on our mind, and I have to say that my efforts were futile and vain.

You really have to see it in the flesh to get all its beauty, all its dimension, and its...Devastator Impact!







Sober but not Cold:

The enamel dial is not only refined, it adds the necessary warmth to this RL.

It is just Sublime!

The Blue Heated hands are, IMO, the perfect choice for this watch, too.

So the combination of the platinum case and the enamel dial + blue hands is a winning outcome.

If you want to get an even warmer watch, the Richard Lange Pour Le Mérite in Rose Gold is for you:







What is great with this Richard Lange is that its true richness is hidden, a bit like a Reverso Nr2 in platinum with its tourbillon on the verso side, or like some PP ( 5101 for example ), with the Tourbillon in the case back.

Here, no tourbillon, of course, but another refinement, ( a Complication? I don't think so, but at least a refinement ), the " fusée à chaine ", which explains why, in the Press Files, Lange began the presentation of this watch by " Precise, preciser ...".

Here is the real interest of its watch, an understated look hiding a superb finish and refinement.

The fusée à chaine:



Hand engraved balance cock and swan neck:



Golden " chatons " and impeccable finish of all the parts of the movement, as usual.



Pure Lange DNA!



A subliminal pic:







In a previous post, initiated by SJX, I said that I reserved my final judgement on this piece till I see it in the flesh.

Now that I saw it in real, I can say:

1/ I was not deceived at all.

I would have preferred to see a central second, to avoid this proximity of design with the Langematik Anniversary, but it is techincally impossible.

The Lange Team explained that this solution was not possible, due to the fact that the " fusée à chaine " takes a lot of place, and that they had to go on the small seconds solution.

2/ The warmth, the understated elegance of this watch is really awesome, and, as always, this watch has really to be seen in the flesh to fully appreciate its impact and interest.

3/ Curiously, this RL Pour Le Mérite ALSO made me love more the normal RL!

To be clear, if I could, I'd jump on this RL PLM, but there will be a few ( 50 pieces in platinum and 200 in Rose Gold ).

But admiring this new PLM, I also got the interest ( I have to confess that it wasn't the case for me, at the beginning ) of the normal RL.

4/ As Foversta said, the Langematik Anniversary is not anymore the only Enamel dial in the Lange Collection.

But it is a good thing, as this new PLM is a very nice sister!



5/ Platinum or RG?

Really, this is very subjective.

I'd say, but this is just my personal opinion, that the platinum is my favourite.

If you want to play the card of the understatement, the platinum is more coherent, IMO, as more understated than the RG...

BUT, I also have to say that the RG brings a nice warmth to this watch, AND plays the card of the Hommage to a certain conception of the Traditionnal Wathcmaking...

So, to each his own, but I'm sure that whatever being yout favourite metal, you won't be wrong, with each of these new marvels.

For me, a True Lange.

I'm happy.

Once again, thanks to Lange to have invited us, and to have given us the opportunity to share such a moment!



Best.

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-12-18 00:03:02 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-12-22 16:12:08