WWG: A. Lange & Söhne’s Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen” Lights Things Up

By Nancy Olson

There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to A. Lange & Söhne’s Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen,” a 2024 Watches and Wonders debut that continues to build on the brand’s extraordinary Datograph, which premiered 25 years ago, but incorporates so much more. It is now reimagined with the newly evolved Manufacture Caliber L952.4 and crafted in proprietary Honeygold. The new timepiece is also the second Datograph to be Lumen equipped, and it follows the Zeitwerk Honeygold “Lumen” from 2021.

Looking back to 2016, when the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon was introduced, its name did—and still does—summarize the watch’s primary pillars. A quick overview: it features a flyback chronograph with A. Lange & Söhne’ssignature outsize date on the dial per the Datograph motif. The perpetual calendar speaks for itself, with a rapid-correction button at 10 o’clock that may be used to simultaneously advance all displays by one day. Three discreet correctors on the flank allow for individual adjustment of the moon phase display, the day of the week, the month, and leap year. The tourbillon employs A. Lange & Söhne’s top-notch stop-seconds mechanism, first introduced in 2008.

A Closer Look: A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen 

In true A. Lange & Söhne style, the hand-decorated 684-part manually wound L952.4 is assembled twice, and it is then adjusted for accuracy in five positions. The classic column wheel chronograph is fitted with a freely oscillating Lange balance spring and balance wheel with eccentric poising weights. Calibrated to a frequency of 2.5 hertz, its accuracy is one-fifth of a second, and its power reserve is about 50 hours. Untreated German silver plates and bridges, polished gold chatons, and blued screws—Lange hallmarks—may be appreciated via the watch’s sapphire crystal caseback.

The coated sapphire crystal dial gives a lot of information in a well-organized—and appealing—fashion. The framed date aperture at 12 o’clock and the two subsidiary dials below form a triangle that visually anchors the dial. Subsidiary seconds, the day of the week and the day/night indicator are on the left, while the jumping minute counter, the month and the leap year are on the right. The moon-phase display is at 6 o’clock; a tachymeter scale is on the periphery.

The Lumen feature adds even more backbone, I think, ensuring dial legibility in a variety of light conditions. The hour and minute hands are inlaid with a luminous compound, while the chronograph seconds hand is coated in its entirety. The luminous dial ring and subsidiary dials ramp up the functionality with just enough glow.

The 41.5mm case is 18-carat Honeygold, a patented material extolled for its hardness among gold alloys due to mineral additives and heat treatment. The first watches in this Lange-trademarked material debuted in 2010. Fitted on a hand-stitched dark brown alligator leather strap with an 18-karat Honeygold deployant buckle, the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen” marks the fourteenth Honeygold launch.

Technical Specs: A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honey Gold Lumen