At the Concours of Elegance – taking place from 2 to 4 September 2022 in the royal ambience of Hampton Court Palace on the outskirts of London – the attention will again be focused on 60 spectacular and rare automobiles. Once again, the mechanical treasures of A. Lange & Söhne will be among the highlights of the event. The Saxon manufactory will be showcasing its artistry with a unique version of the 1815 CHRONOGRAPH. The exclusive timepiece will be auctioned off on 6 November 2022 by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the Geneva Watch Auction XVI. The proceeds will be donated to The Prince’s Trust charity and used to give young people better prospects in life.
Ferraris, Bugattis, Aston Martins – amazing models all lined up to be admired. In the tenth anniversary year of the Concours of Elegance, Great Britain’s most noble automobile clubs will present the best of their high-calibre motorised masterpieces. The matching backdrop is provided by the gardens and parks of Hampton Court Palace on the outskirts of London, a former residence of Henry VIII and a paragon of Tudor style.
Dedicated to the highest standards
But it is not only the legends of the road and of the racetrack, it is also the timepieces of A. Lange & Söhne that will make the weekend an unforgettable experience for all those who appreciate mechanical beauty in all of its manifestations. As a partner for the event, the Saxon manufactory will present itself and its collection, especially those timepieces with chronograph functions. These watches in particular reflect the historic relationship between motorsport and time measurement. Visitors of the Concours of Elegance will be able to admire the challenging start/stop mechanism first-hand when they look over the shoulder of a master watchmaker at work. The finesse of a chronograph calibre comes to the fore when the mechanism is activated and the elaborate interaction of levers, rockers and wheels is set in motion.
A one-of-a-kind 1815 CHRONOGRAPH for The Prince’s Trust
The event will provide a special stage for the one-of-a-kind 1815 CHRONOGRAPH “Hampton Court Edition” before it is auctioned by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the Geneva Watch Auction XVI for the benefit of The Prince’s Trust on 6 November 2022.
The Prince’s Trust was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976 and supports young people aged 11 to 30 to develop essential life skills, get ready for work, and access job opportunities. More than a million young people across the UK have been supported through courses offered by the youth charity.
Frances Milner, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at The Prince’s Trust said: “The Prince’s Trust believes that every young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter what their background or the challenges they may face. A. Lange & Söhne’s commitment and support through the auction of a unique timepiece will enable us to continue in our ambition to build a better future for young people and help more young people who have experienced adversity to develop the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn.”
The 1815 CHRONOGRAPH “Hampton Court Edition” comes in a solid white-gold case with a diameter of 39.5 millimetres. It has a black dial and, for the first time, sandstone-coloured numerals. It brings together classic design and superb mechanical ingenuity; moreover, it is identified as a one-of-a-kind piece. Behind the hinged cuvette with the hand-engraved logo of the Concours of Elegance ticks a manufactory-designed and -produced chronograph movement with a flyback function and column-wheel control. Because it beats at a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), the watch displays stopped times to an accuracy of one-fifth of a second.
As with every Lange watch, the 306 parts of the Lange calibre L951.5 movement were finished in Glashütte with a passion for detail by masters of their craft. To live up to the manufactory’s ambitions, the movement of the 1815 CHRONOGRAPH was assembled twice as well. The meticulous engraving of the Concours of Elegance logo is also time-consuming. The intricate motif takes several days to complete. The solid-gold cuvette is engraved with the intaglio technique.
Charity based on a shared passion
Since the beginning of the partnership in 2018, the Concours of Elegance has not only provided the perfect framework for A. Lange & Söhne to present its mechanical masterpieces but has also been an ideal venue for inspiring encounters with fans and collectors. “The parallels between the worlds of classic automobiles and classic timepieces are striking,” says Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid. Simultaneously, he sees considerable potential in the passion that many people associate with the event. “The focus is on automobiles, on motion. In keeping with our motto to never stand still, we want to move things this year in social terms, too. The Prince’s Trust enables children and adolescents to recognise and meaningfully use their potential. We not only support this goal, but we also share it: For 25 years now, as a training company, we have been experiencing that the promotion of younger generations significantly contributes to the success of our manufactory. All those who want to help us show younger people their potential are cordially invited to actively attend the auction at Phillips in Geneva.”
About A. Lange & Söhne
Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange laid the cornerstone of Saxony’s precision watchmaking industry when he established his manufactory in 1845. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after the Second World War, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly vanished. But in 1990, Walter Lange, Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s great-grandson, ventured to start over again. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches, mainly in gold or platinum, per year. They are endowed exclusively with proprietary movements that are lavishly decorated and twice assembled by hand. With 69 manufacture calibres developed since 1990, A. Lange & Söhne has secured a top-tier position among the world’s finest watch brands. Its greatest successes include brand icons such as the LANGE 1, the first regularly produced wristwatch with an outsize date, and the ZEITWERK, with its precisely jumping numerals. Extraordinary complications such as the ZEITWERK MINUTE REPEATER, the TRIPLE SPLIT and the so far most complicated model, the GRAND COMPLICATION, introduced in 2013 in a limited edition of six, represent what the manufactory always strives for: to drive the traditional art of watchmaking to ever-new heights. The sporty yet elegant ODYSSEUS, introduced in 2019, marked the start of a new chapter for A. Lange & Söhne.