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Experimenting with lume has been a key theme at Watches and Wonders 2026, with several brands harnessing its otherworldly glow in interesting ways. We saw IWC go all out with its Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Ceralume and Bremont apply it liberally to the aptly named Supernova releases. Now, A. Lange & Söhne has delivered its own unique take on the lume-heavy watch: the platinum-constructed Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”.
This is not what I would have expected from the German maison, but it makes an eccentric kind of sense. Despite the seriousness with which it obviously takes its watchmaking, there has always been a subtly playful glint in A. Lange & Söhne’s figurative eye. The “Lumen” feels like a fitting expression of this glint, serving as both a formidable piece of watchmaking (we’re talking a tourbillon with stop seconds, a perpetual calendar with a peripheral month ring, and instantaneously switching displays), and a fun exploration of what can be done when you don’t hold back from using the glowing stuff.
As a result, A. Lange & Söhne has produced a very complex watch on which all indications are legible in the dark, and even those that would normally be obscured are now visible through the transparent dial — a way of showing off the watch’s insides without going down the skeletonised route. Plus, this transaprency allows the passage of UV light, which enables a more consistent charging of the luminous compound on the underlying displays, rather than just during the brief moments in which they appear to the wearer (and sun). Clever.
Illuminating a Classic Design
Outside of that glow, the “Lumen” offers everything you would expect from a Lange 1 and then some. The maison’s signature outsize date holds its place in the dial’s top left, while a luminous moon-phase display with an integrated day/night indication makes its debut beneath it. Within this complication, a celestial disc that rotates clockwise once every 24 hours forms the backdrop for the lunar orbit. During the day, the wearer can view a light, clear sky, while at night, a dark sky studded with glowing stars. This display deviates from the true position of the moon by just one day after 122.6 years. ]
Like the outsize date, the leap-year display at 6 o’clock is another focal point of luminescence, providing a concentrated glow upon the dial in contrast to the more subtle effect across the watch’s various hands, as well as all the scales, appliques, and contours of the moon-phase display.
A Secret Tourbillon
While most maisons launching a tourbillon-equipped timepiece go to some lengths to ensure that the complication is well and truly on display, A. Lange & Söhne has done quite the opposite. Only by peeking through the watch’s sapphire-crystal caseback can you spy the complex and intricate mechanism. This exercise in precision rotates around its own axis once per minute, compensating for gravity’s influence as it goes. Combined with the in-house balance spring, it ensures the “Lumen”’s world-class accuracy.
Of course, every component of the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar offers the kind of elite finishing that we’ve come to expect from A. Lange & Söhne. It’s platinum case is a thing of beauty and each component is carefully crafted to within an inch of its life.
The final result is a watch that combines traditional watchmaking of the highest order with a good-natured and understated sense of mischief. Limited to 50 pieces and with pricing only available upon request, it’s a unique piece within A. Lange & Söhne’s catalogue that finds the maison flexing a somewhat less serious muscle that we don’t often see.
Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen” Key Specs:
- Reference: 720.035FE / LSLS7202AG
- Case: Platinum
- Diameter: 41.9 mm
- Thickness: 13 mm
- Water resistance: 30 metres
- Movement: Self-winding L225.1
- Functions: Outsize date, day/night indicator, moon-phase display, tourbillon, day-of-week display, perpetual calendar
- Power reserve: 50 hours
- Strap: Black alligator leather with deployant buckle in 950 platinum
- Limited edition: 50 pieces
- Price: On request
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