Introducing A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph
The newly developed L156.1 calibre encased in stainless steel premieres: it is the first A. Lange & Söhne self-winding chronograph movement. Share
Four years ago, with the ODYSSEUS, the A. Lange & Söhne watchmakers launched their first sporty-elegant timepiece, showcasing a unique design and a customised, exquisitely finished movement. Now, the Odysseus Chronograph is the sequel to the success story of this watch family. Thanks to its innovative and dynamic function that resets the chronograph hands to zero, this timepiece is proof that the Saxon manufactory dauntlessly explores new avenues and advances the development of precision watchmaking. Given its horological intricacy, the Odysseus Chronograph comes in a limited edition of 100 watches.
The A. Lange & Söhne watchmakers continue to break new ground. In 2019, they redefined the category of sporty-elegant watches with the launch of the Odysseus. They ventured into uncharted territory in several respects. One of them was the development of an individual movement, customised for the novel applications—the L155.1 DATOMATIC calibre.
Secondly, they struck a new and distinctive path when it came to designing the ODYSSEUS: its contemporary appearance is based on openness, lightness and the prominent features. Its narrow bezel allowed for a comparatively large dial. Together with the lancet-shaped hands and the typical Lange displays for the date and day of week, it assures excellent legibility.
With the youngest member of the Odysseus watch family, A. Lange & Söhne once again forayed into unknown territory, thus underscoring its expertise in the area of short-time measurement. To this day, designing and building a chronograph calibre is considered to be one of the greatest challenges in precision watchmaking. Only a few manufacturers possess the knowledge and ability to develop and craft a similarly complex movement. With a total of 13 manufacture movements, chronographs have been among the most coveted A. Lange & Söhne models since 1999.
To retain the characteristic dial design of the Odysseus, the manufactory developed a customised movement that positions both chronograph hands in the centre, the minute counter with a lozenge-shaped tip as well as the red chrono seconds hand. As a consequence, the totalisers, which are conventionally arranged at 3 and 9 o’clock, could be dispensed with, and the style-defining positions of the outsize date and day of the week could be maintained.
Owing to the expansion of the measuring range from 30 to 60 minutes, the Lange developers succeeded in introducing new fields of application for the chronograph. Additionally, it is endowed with an innovative, dynamic reset-to-zero function. When the reset-to-zero button at 4 o’clock is actuated after a time measurement, a short but impressive spectacle ensues: while the minute counter jumps back to its starting position in the conventional way, the red chrono seconds hand covers the entire distance travelled beforehand within a fraction of a second—one full revolution for each measured minute.
If the minute counter has not reached the 30-minute mark yet, the two hands move anti-clockwise. If the minute counter has passed the 30-minute mark, both hands will advance to zero clockwise. At high speed, the chrono seconds hand performs a full revolution for every minute required to reach the full hour.
To assure safe and easy operation of the chronograph, the Lange product developers equipped the specially sealed, tapered buttons with a novel dual function. In the normal position of the screw-down crown, the buttons at 2 and 4 o’clock are used to operate the chronograph functions: start, stop and reset to zero. When the crown is pulled, the date and day of the week can be corrected with a newly developed mechanism.
The Odysseus Chronograph takes centre stage in a three-part stainless-steel case with a diameter of 42.5 millimetres that withstands a test pressure of 12 bar and is robust enough to accompany its wearer even during sports and leisure activities. As with the other members of the watch family, the surfaces are matted and the edges are accentuated with a chamfer: the combination of brushed surfaces and chamfered edges creates an impressive play of light and is echoed on the lugs and links of the solid stainless-steel bracelet.
The chronograph, which is limited to 100 watches, is equipped with a dial whose special architecture creates an illusion of depth—a feature shared by the previous Odysseus models.
