The Concours of Elegance Germany is kicking off this weekend along the shores of lake Tegernsee after a successful inaugural edition in 2024. In addition to the classic cars on display, German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, who serves as a partner of the Concourse events, is revealing a new member of the Zeitwerk collection. Fresh off of celebrating their 30th modern anniversary last year at the Audrain, A. Lange & Söhne is turning their attention to one of their most unique modern creations in the Zeitwerk with a new Zeitwerk Date reference that pairs a pink gold case with a grey dial for the first time in the collection. This is also just the second Zeitwerk Date to be produced since its introduction in 2019. The unique variation brings out a new wrinkle in the watch’s personality, and there’s still plenty under the hood worth nerding out over.
The Zeitwerk made its debut in 2009, and was an instant departure from the brand’s existing lineup. It was also a rather disruptive force for the rest of the industry, in an era that could be considered transitional in many ways, particularly when it came to conceptual haute horology. The Zeitwerk was, and remains, very much within the A. Lange & Söhne DNA, however. The time bridge in German silver with an outsized digital display is well outside the norm, even today, when it comes to mechanical innovation. The concept itself required unique solutions to bring to life, and in true A. Lange & Söhne form, a new movement architecture was developed for the collection.
A full review of the Zeitwerk Date is coming soon, so we won’t get too deep in the weeds here, but there are a few details worth noting about this watch. The discs themselves are quite large and heavy, and turning them instantaneously requires a constant amount of force throughout the entire power reserve. To address this, a remontoire (more on this bit in the full review) is placed between the barrel and the balance, keeping the rate constant, and serving as a switching device for the disc changeover every minute and hour. The action is actually visible through a recess in the bridge plate when viewing the movement.
It’s an insanely cool piece of engineering that, perhaps ironically, powers one of the most intuitive and simple displays of time humans have yet devised. Digitally. Further, Lange has made using it just as simple. A button on the bottom right side of the case makes quick adjustments to the hour, and while the crown handles winding, and adjustments to the minutes. In the Zeitwerk Date, as we see here, there is another button on the opposite side of the case that, you guessed it, adjusts the date. That is selling these buttons short, however, as they have their own bit of trick engineering at work behind the scenes.
Pressing a button to make adjustments or actuate something inside of a mechanical movement can put a great deal of stress on the internal components, depending on how hard that button is pressed by the user. To address this, Lange has devised a system that makes the buttons work almost in reverse, so you can press it as hard as you’d like, but the actual action happens on the return stroke, if you will. So the date changes when you lift off of the button, and it’s the same with the hour disc. Like I said, there’s a lot to nerd about with this watch.
So, what’s new with this latest variation of the Zeitwerk Date? Well, to date, there has only been a single reference produced, which uses a white gold case and grey dial. With this latest release, there are now two executions of the Zeitwerk Date, as it will now be offered with a pink gold case, and the same grey dial, which is a relatively uncommon pairing throughout A. Lange & Söhne’s catalog. This is the first for the Zeitwerk collection, and it works about exactly as well as you might expect.
The case itself measures a healthy 44.2mm in diameter, and 12.3mm in total thickness. The weight of the gold is also a factor in the presence it has on the wrist. It’s large, but it’s a well considered design from pretty much every angle, and that pays dividends throughout a day of wear. It’s surprisingly comfortable, though it’s a watch that you will always be aware of on your wrist. The length of the lugs feels just right, as do the angle and placement of the chamfers. It’s easier to wear than you might imagine, but there’s also no getting around that this is a large watch, just not in a bad way.
On a final note, I think it’s worth pointing out the elusive nature of Lange precious metals. It’s something I’ve pointed out before, and it remains the case with their pink gold as seen here. There is a subtle quality that’s difficult to capture in images, and is even difficult to fully appreciate in person unless you’re able to view it in natural daylight. It’s soft, and while the hue is warm, it never feels overpowering to the watch itself. In an example of just how much the brand considers the colors of the cases and dials, the date ring on this reference has been shifted to an ever so slightly warmer tone to make the transition between the two feel all the more natural.
The new Zeitwerk Date is a non limited edition, meaning it will join the white gold reference as a regular part of the collection. In pink gold the watch will be priced at $132,000. The Zeitwerk collection as a whole remains a relatively tight grouping of conceptually special watches that include striking mechanisms, Lumen dials, and even Honeygold cases, but in terms of a practical daily viable option, it doesn’t get any better than the Zeitwerk Date. A. Lange & Söhne