====== A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange Tourbillon “Pour le Mérite” ======

{{wst>image_cr|A. Lange & Söhne|Richard Lange Tourbillon „Pour le Mérite“ Platin|Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" (Platinum)}}

{{wst>image_cr|A. Lange & Söhne|Richard Lange Tourbillon „Pour le Mérite“ Rotgold|Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" (Red gold)}}

{{wst>image_cr|Lange|L072.1}}

The **Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite"** is a luxury watch by [[A. Lange & Söhne]].

Presented in January [[2011]], the model's dial layout cites a famous historical model: a [[regulator]]-[[chronometer]] by [[Seyffert, Johann Heinrich|Johann Heinrich Seyffert]] (1751-1817) from the year [[1807]]. As early as [[1797]], the famous naturalist Alexander von Humboldt had traveled to Dresden specifically to purchase a chronometer by Seyffert for his South American excursion. The 1807 model, with three overlapping displays and a fusée-and-chain mechanism for constant drive, is now in the collection of the "Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon" in Dresden. This design inspired the Richard Lange Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite", which transfers the pocket watch layout to the wristwatch.

Functional description by the manufacturer Lange & Söhne:
<blockquote>
A round cut-out in the seconds dial, traversed
by the minute scale and by the recessed tourbillon
bridge, reveals the tourbillon cage. But the tourbillon
can be admired in its entirety only from twelve to six
o’clock. At six, a dial segment with the Roman numerals
VIII, IX, and X instantaneously pivots into the
aperture to make the hour scale complete.

{{wst>image_cl|A. Lange & Söhne|Richard Lange Tourbillon „Pour le Mérite“ pivoting dial|450px}}

The motion
is generated by an ingenious switching mechanism,
which assures that the dial segment is advanced
by 90 degrees in increments of six hours.
Thanks to this remarkable feature, the watch tells the
time unambiguously during the morning and the evening
as well.
At twelve o’clock, the hours dial segment
vanishes as quickly as it appeared and for the
next six hours again fully exposes the tourbillon as it
concurrently revolves and reciprocates. 

Its task is to offset rate deviations that can
potentially be caused by the effect of gravity on the balance wheel. With a patented
stop-seconds mechanism, the tourbillon can be halted simply by pulling the crown,
allowing the time displayed by the watch to be set to one-second accuracy.
</blockquote>

<WRAP ud ud_mod>
**Reference:**
  * 760.025 [[platinum]]
  * 760.032 [[red gold]]

**Movement:**
  * [[Hand-winding]] [[manufacture movement]] [[Lange L072|L072.1]], 21,600 A/h
  * [[Fusée-and-chain transmission]]
  * [[Three-quarter plate]] in untreated [[Nickel silver]]
  * Components: movement 351 without chain; chain: 636
  * 32 [[jewels]], including one diamond capstone
  * 3 screwed gold [[chaton]]s
  * Shock-resistant [[Glucydur]] [[screw balance]]
  * [[Balance spring]] in own production
  * Power reserve 36 hours

**Case:**
  * 18ct [[red gold]] or [[platinum]]
  * Ø 41.9 mm, H 12.2 mm
  * [[Sapphire crystal]]
  * Caseback with [[sapphire crystal]] window

**Dial:**
  * Massiv [[Silver]], argenté (Red gold version) / rhodié (platinum version)
  * Hands: Red gold / Gold, rhodinated

**Functions:**
  * Hours, minutes, [[small seconds]]
  * [[Minute tourbillon]] with patented [[hacking seconds]]

**Bracelet:**
  * Hand-sewn crocodile leather strap with [[folding clasp]] in platinum or red gold

**Limited edition:**
  * Red gold - / Platinum 100 pieces
</WRAP>

{{tag>Watch_models Watches_with_tourbillon A._Lange_&_Söhne_models A._Lange_&_Söhne_Richard_Lange_models A._Lange_&_Söhne_Pour_le_Mérite_models}}