After the Concorso is before the Concorso. What holds true for the organisers of the most important beauty contest for classic cars also applies to the watchmakers at the workshops of A. Lange & Söhne, the competition’s principal partner since 2012. Just a few weeks after this year’s award ceremony, they will start to work on the trophy for the 2019 Best-of-Show winner.
After all, it will take A. Lange & Söhne nine months to mill and drill the 417 parts of the inhouse-designed calibre L031.1, to assemble the watch in an elaborate two-step process and to finish individual parts with traditional decoration techniques. It takes nine days just to execute the engraving on the white-gold dust caseback that displays the competition’s coat of arms and the year.
The zone time is easy to set, thanks to a push piece and a rotating city ring. But if the user is abroad and wants the local time to become “home time” for the duration of the stay, an ingenious adjustment mechanism makes it possible to reverse the priority of the two times. In this case, the main dial and the date display are synchronised to the time at the user’s foreign domicile while the subsidiary dial can be set to indicate either the time at home or the time in any other part of the world – depending on the user’s preference.
The Lange 1 Time Zone “Como Edition” is the only A. Lange & Söhne watch money can’t buy, it has to be earned. The care and dedication invested in the restoration of an exceptional car may eventually result in its ownership.
Here is the list of the Best-of-Show cars since 2012:
2012: 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS 6th Series Coupé
2013: 1938 Bugatti 57 SC Atlantic Coupé
2014: 1956 Maserati 450 S.
2015: 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider Zagato
2016: 1954 Maserati A6 GCS
2017: 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS Prototipo
A. Lange & Söhne at Villa Erba
On Saturday and Sunday, A. Lange & Söhne will host an exhibition at the Villa Erba where contemporary haute horlogerie can be experienced at close quarters. Selected highlights from the manufactory’s collection of fine mechanical timepieces will be on display. Traditional craftsmanship will be showcased at an original workshop bench where a master engraver will demonstrate his artistic skills. Visitors can try on a Lange watch and take wrist shots in a 1930s BMW 321, the car that once awakened Walter Lange’s passion for classic automobiles.
