Ask me what my favourite A. Lange & Söhne collection is and I’m liable to immediately say something like the Lange 1 or Odysseus. However, if you give me a moment to think about it I actually think it would be the Datograph. There’s something magnetic about the way Datographs manage to balance a hugely complex dial with pure elegance and great legibility. And now, 25 years after the first Datograph, Lange have released a new edition called the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen.
It features a 42.5mm diameter case made from Lange’s honeygold, which is their patented gold alloy notable for being particularly hard wearing and having a rich pink-yellow colour. However, of more importance is fact that this watch is part of the Lumen series, a collection of 6 limited edition references with translucent dials and luminescent functions for a dramatic appearance in both day and night.
For the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen that means the hour, minute and chronograph seconds hands, tachymeter, date, moonphase and subdials are coated with lume. The subdials each feature a trio of complications superimposed on top of each other. At 8 o’clock is the small seconds with days of the week and day/night indicator. At 4 o’clock is the 30-minute timer, months and leap year indicator. The amazing thing is that despite cramming such a huge amount of information into a relatively small portion of the dial, it looks very neat.
The movement powering all of those functions is L952.4, the latest generation of the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon calibre that was first debuted in 2016. It has manual winding and operates with a power reserve of 50-hours, which is pretty impressive considering that there are several power intensive complications present between the tourbillon, perpetual calendar and flyback chronograph.
In terms of pricing and availability, the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen is limited to 50 pieces and is price on request. I think my favourite thing about the Honeygold Lumen edition of the watch compared to previous versions is actually the combination of the translucent black dial and luminescent subdials that give the piece a reverse panda aesthetic. It adds a greater sense of dynamism to the display as opposed to the mono-colour variants that have come before.
Price and Specs:
More details at A. Lange & Söhne.
