If you’re going to spend $80,000 on a watch, you almost always want people to know it. The safe bet for this type of “check-out-this-watch” watch tends to have a yellow or rose gold case and a skeletonized dial to reveal its gleaming, over-complicated movement inside. The A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Jumping Seconds has all of the price tag and, at least on the surface, none of the dazzle.
But if you know a thing or two about watches and get some hands-on time with one, you’ll get it. First off, A. Lange’s sleeper hit at this year’s SIHH contains a “Jumping Seconds” complication, a rare and difficult feat of watchmaking that, ironically enough, ticks just once a second like a garden-variety quartz timepiece. Lange also gave the watch a “zero set function,” which, in order to help set accurate time, springs the second hand to the 12 o’clock position when the crown is pulled out. These are rarities in watchmaking, and in conjunction with a regulator-style dial (made out of pure silver) and a solid platinum case, it’s a super-high-end watch that doesn’t feel the need to shout it.
Winding: manual
Complications: jumping seconds; power reserve indicator
Case Maerial: platinum
Case Size: 39.9mm
Power Reserve: 42 hours
