The A. Lange & Sohne Datograph watch is a modern "Holy Grail" for many dedicated timepiece aficionados. Along with the rival Patek Philippe 5070, this chronograph has become a near-cult item amongst collectors of ultra high-end chronographs. And for good reason: the Datograph watch is an extraordinarily beautiful classic chronograph, whose Manufacture movement represents the very finest in traditional Saxon haute horlogerie.
Even a brief glance through the sapphire crystal window in the Datograph's caseback leaves an unmistakable confirmation of something truly remarkable. The A. Lange & Sohne Datograph watch's hand-wound L951.1 movement is an absolute delight to the eye, in both its mechanical intricacy and unsparing degree of painstaking hand finish. The densely packed, yet perfectly organized structure of German silver bridges and perfectly finished steel chronograph levers offers a three-dimensional visual feast, which reveals more secrets under closer scrutiny. Each of the bridges is decorated with Glashutte ribbing, and the edges are finely chamfered. Other points of admiration are the extraordinary blued-steel screws, four jewels borne in gold chatons, a polished escape wheel cover plate, and a hand-engraved balance cock with a chamfered and polished swan-neck spring. Naturally, this exquisite horizontally-coupled chronograph mechanism is controlled by a column wheel; this perfectly finished component is a prominent star in the mechanism, as it governs the various sequences of the chronograph operation. Not just beautiful to see, the A. Lange & Sohne Datograph watch is equally appealing to the ear, thanks to the classical slow-beat balance wheel, which pulses at an unhurried rate of 18,000 beats per hour.
The A. Lange & Sohne Datograph timepiece offers a number of exclusive complications. The chronograph function, in addition to the normal start-stop-return to zero sequence, offers a flyback complication, enabling the moving center chronograph second hand to be resent to zero without the need to stop it first. The unique precisely jumping minutes counter advances precisely at the turn of each chronograph minute, unlike traditional chronographs, which require up to a full second to complete the switch-over. This precision is the result of a unique A. Lange & Sohne mechanism composed of a lever and a cam, and is also a feature of A. Lange & Sohne's closely related 1815 Chronograph and the even more complicated Double-Split chronograph. At the twelve o'clock position on the dial, the Datograph watch offers the classical A. Lange & Sohne outsize date mechanism, which has become a design signature of the brand; this date display may be precisely advanced manually by pressing the pushpiece located at 10 o'clock on the watch case.
Beyond the exemplary Manufacture movement and distinctive mechanical complication, this A. Lange & Sohne timepiece embodies timelessly classical aesthetics. Crafted from 18K pink gold, or platinum, the 39mm Datograph watch case is crafted in three parts, with a brushed central section that contrasts sublimely with the polished upper and lower elements, as well as the lugs. The pleasingly proportioned winding crown is elegant, yet offers enough grip to easily undertake the sensuously delightful task of daily hand-winding. A. Lange & Sohne presents the Datograph watch with a wonderfully designed solid silver dial, which has an outer tachymeter scale, and applied Roman numeral hour markers. Yet another example of the remarkable attention to the tenets of classical watchmaking can be found in the graceful hands, whose tips gently curve inwards to the dial. The watch is completed by a hand-stitched crocodile strap with a massive signed A. Lange & Sohne buckle in 18K gold or platinum.