A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Timezone – Piece Unique for Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este

A. Lange & Söhne created a piece unique for the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, a world-famous car show with classic automobiles, motorcycles and brand new prototypes. The winner of the Best of Show Trophy wins this unique Lange 1 Time Zone!

The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este takes place coming weekend, in Cernobbio on Lake Como (Italy) from 25 to 27 May 2012. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid will personally present it to the winner of the most prestigious prize of the event.

The photo above was made on the steering wheel of a BMW 321 at the BMW Museum in Munich.

In comparison with the regularly produced model, the Concorso edition showcases three special features. Not easy to spot for an untrained eye, but one of the special features is an homage to the event’s location, discreetly integrated on the dial. The Central European Time indicated on the rotating city ring of the time zone watch is represented by Como instead of Berlin as usual.

In 2007 I got some hands-on experience with a limited edition Lange 1 Time Zone that was created especially for the 100th anniversary of Leon Martens, a well-appreciated dealer in Maastricht, Netherlands.

The second special feature is a closed case back, also called cuvette. Cuvette is the French term for the inner dust cover that was once used to protect the movements of precious pocket watches. The normal Lange 1 Time Zone features a sapphire crystal case back, so the full splendor of the stunning Lange & Söhne movements can be see. This piece unique features a manually engraved white-gold hinged case back. The inscription “CONCORSO D’ELEGANZA VILLA D’ESTE” surrounds the coat of arms of the venerable competition.

As a single exemplar, the Lange 1 Time Zone ‘Cuvette’ in white gold is an absolute rarity. So that can be considered as the third special feature.

The movement is the always stunning manually wound caliber L031.1, with the typical three-quarter plate showing the most gorgeous finish: decorated and assembled by hand, precision-adjusted in five positions, plates and bridges made of untreated German silver and both the balance cock and intermediate-wheel cock are engraved by hand. That beauty can only be admired when the hinged case back is opened.

Please visit the A. Lange & Söhne website for more information.

This article is written by Frank Geelen, executive editor of Monochrome Watches.