EVENT: Dinner with A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid

Felix Scholz

ALS-event-7 — A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid holding court.

Last week, we had the pleasure of enjoying Germany’s finest watches along with Melbourne’s finest Chinese cuisine, in the form of A. Lange & Söhne at Flower Drum, thanks to Watches of Switzerland.

The banquet was delicious and the Pinot Noir perfect, both serving as excellent entrees to the main course – the timepieces. Dotted around the room on wrists and in display cases were Saxonias, Datographs and Zeitwerks, but there was really one watch we were all there for. There on the wrist of Mr Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne, was the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater – one of this year’s most impressive releases.

ALS-event-5 — The $600,000+ Zeitwerk Minute Repeater peeking out from Mr Schmid’s cuff.

Most minute repeaters chime the time in hours, quarter hours and minutes, but what makes this so different is that Lange have developed a decimal repeater, so the watch is able to chime the time precisely as you read it. So at 7:52, it would chime seven times to convey the hour, five times to denote five sets of 10 minutes, and twice for the single minutes.

KD_ALS_Zeitwerk_M002inute Repeater — Image by Kristian Dowling/Time+Tide Images.

An elegant and intuitive solution, it was far from simple for Lange to achieve, and a quick glance at the 771-part movement gives an idea of that complexity. It was a rare privilege to be able to hold and hear this watch.

The cutting edge research and technology displayed in that 44mm case is offset nicely with tradition. The finishing, three-quarter plate in German Silver, the hand-engraved balance cock – all these things speak to the history of Lange. It tied in beautifully with Schmid’s dinner discussion of how they’re celebrating the bicentennial of Ferdinand A. Lange – founder of the company and the man who turned Glashütte into the watchmaking centre of Germany. A man of vision who would be pleased to know that the handiwork bearing his name continues to exemplify the highest quality and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

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Thanks to our partners A. Lange & Söhne and to Watches of Switzerland for a wonderful evening.

ALS-event-3 — Mr Schmid and the Watches of Switzerland team.

Images provided by Watches of Switzerland.