Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

New York, Jun 14, 2006

LOT 308

"Datograph? A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte i. SA., ?Datograph?, No. 33995, case No. 148148, Ref. 403.035. Production of this reference started in 2000. Very fine and rare, platinum gentleman?s wristwatch with square button fly-back chronograph, register, tachometer, oversized date and a platinum A. Lange & Söhne buckle. Accompanied by a fitted box and certificate.

USD 30,000 - 40,000

EUR 25,000 - 32,000

Sold: USD 37,760

C. Three-body, solid, polished and brushed, rounded bezel, transparent case back with 6 screws, push button on the band for the date correction, sapphire crystals. D. Black, made from solid silver, applied white gold Roman numerals, bâton indexes and luminous dots, subsidiary silver dials for the 60-seconds and instantaneous 30-minute registers, outer tachometer graduation, below 12 aperture for the oversized date. Luminous white gold "alpha" hands. M. Cal. L 951.1, Glashütte 3/4 plate, maillechort, ?fausses côtes? decoration, 40 jewels including 4 in screw-mounted gold châtons, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, shockabsorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring, "swan-neck" micrometer regulator, hand-engraved balance bridge. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 38 mm. Thickness 13 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 1

As new
Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Datograph Right from the start the Datograph made a strong impression with watch enthusiasts and collectors worldwide, when the watch debuted at the Basel fair in 2000. The excellent reputation A. Lange & Söhne has regained with their Lange 1 and Langematik watches carries on with this chro- nograph: A fly-back function, the famous A. Lange oversized date, Glashütte 3/4 plate. All this in combination with features that seemed to have disappeared in modern watch movement design: A column wheel mechanism to govern the chronograph functions, screwed gold châtons for several jewels, a separate bridge for the fourth and for the escape wheel, and a balance wheel oscillating at a speed of 18,000 vibrations/hour, as in the famous A. Lange pocket watch chronographs. But there are also more subtle features and qualities: An instantaneous minute counter hand jumping precisely when the sweep-seconds hand passes the 60 seconds, adjusted by a switching lever. Or a polished steel plate for the escape wheel jewel. As in all A. Lange & Söhne movements, the bridges and the plates are made from cross-laminated German silver; a material not very often used any more in movement production. It is a very rigid alloy consisting of copper, zinc, and nickel, which over time develops a light patina and it is easily distinguished from the brighter white rhodium-plated finish seen in other watch movements. Altogether the Datograph consists of 390 individual parts, all hand-finished to fit together precisely for reliable timekeeping and performance. In addition to all the technical accomplishments and the high quality, it is also quite a beautiful timepiece.