The Mind-Blowing A. Lange & Söhne Double Split Unveiled | Watchfinder & Co.

rotrapont double chronograph double chronograph split seconds whatever you call it it's the daddy of chronograph complications except that it's not because the double split from our language honor takes this already incredible chronograph mechanism to the next level take a look and see what i mean watchfinder the pre-owned watch specialist now available in france germany switzerland usa and hong kong so we can keep on making great watch videos i'd really appreciate it if you subscribed to the channel if you already are it really does help thank you as a watchmaker to build yourself a grand complication you need to master three things one the perpetual calendar a mechanism that tracks the days months years and even leap years two the minute repeater an on-demand chiming complication that rings out the hours quarters and minutes and three the split seconds chronograph the first two especially the perpetual calendar are not too uncommon on their own sprinkled unsparingly across many manufacturers most high-end models but the split-second chronograph is less common and there's a very good reason for that take a look back in time and you'll see why when pocket watches started to be phased out and wrist watches took over most of the manufacturers who'd built their own chronograph complications started to look elsewhere patek philippe breguet vacheron constantin omega basically the prospect of taking even a standard chronograph complication and shrinking it down to a size small enough to fit a wristwatch was just too daunting for even the biggest watchmakers that's because despite being a fairly commonplace complication today the chronograph is a very difficult and therefore very expensive mechanism to develop there are in excess of parts each working in harmony to transfer the continuous drive of the main movement into an on-demand time recording device there are three main functions in a chronograph and each is just as complex as the last the first start requires the connection of the static chronograph mechanism to the active movement a bit like how a car uses a clutch to connect the moving engine with the stationary wheels as well as the release of the brakes holding the chronograph in place when not in use the second stop reapplies the brakes and disengages the driving wheel the third reset reaches in and forces the cams associated to each hand back to zero this is all done via the central brain the column wheel which negotiates all the levers and gears into place perfectly you can see why making one is such a headache and we haven't even got to the split seconds chronograph yet where a standard chronograph logs time until you stop it a split seconds chronograph adds another chronograph hand to give the user the flexibility to pause the chronograph to record a time and then catch back up as though the chronograph had never been stopped at all say you're timing a race in which there are multiple laps if there was just the one lap you could simply start the chronograph at the start and stop it at the end but in this case you want to record not only the total race time but the time each lap is completed as well that's known as a split time i suppose you could keep one eye on the track and one on the watch and eyeball it but that's quite simply a disaster waiting to happen here's where the split seconds chronograph comes in as well as the start stop pusher and the reset pusher you get a third pusher this seemingly innocuous little fella when pressed pauses a hidden chronograph second hand that lets the user lock the time precisely whilst the main chronograph continues on then when you're done you press the pusher again and the split seconds hand catches up like nothing ever happened sounds simple but it is the furthest thing from it to add this function the watch needs a second chronograph movement layered on top of the first with its own levers and wheels and even its own column wheel but there's a problem that deals with the seconds but how do you keep track of the minutes before we answer that question let's explore just how crazy the split seconds chronograph really is it's essentially a third layer to the movement below the time-telling part and the main chronograph the split-second's hand sits beneath the main chronograph second's hand linked via a cam that it retains alignment with via a sprung lever but when the third pusher is pressed levers driven by the second column wheel clamp down on the split seconds chronograph wheel forcing it still the sprung lever is drawn around the cam by the still-turning main chronograph second's hand allowing the main chronograph to continue running when the time is recorded and the third pusher pressed again the split seconds chronograph wheel is released and the sprung lever forces the split seconds chronograph hand to realign with the main chronograph hand in a similar way to how the main chronograph is reset remember how i said those big brands weren't interested in creating their own chronograph movements let alone a split seconds chronograph here's a demonstration of just how challenging they are to produce patek philippe released the world's first spit seconds chronograph wristwatch in 1923 however the movement was built on a third-party victorian pga base with the split-seconds mechanism itself also likely to have been produced by that same third party it wasn't until 2005 over 80 years later that patek philippe manufactured its own in-house chronograph with split seconds no less one that was almost identical to that 1923 original it seems that erlang and zona didn't get the memo about the split seconds chronograph being such a difficult accomplishment because the german watchmaker pondered the following instead if you can only split the seconds what do you do if you record a split time just before the chronograph minute's hand ticks over it's back to eyeballing it looking at the elapsed time and mentally figuring out whether you have to take a minute off or not there is another way however this alongside a double split is a split seconds chronograph yes but it's also a split minutes chronograph as well so when you press that third pusher you don't just pause the seconds you pause the minutes as well a secondary minute hand freezing as the main chronograph continues running as if the split seconds chronograph wasn't rare and difficult enough this takes it to a whole new level all that hard work and complexity needed for this split seconds is doubled for the split minutes the brakes wheels sprung lever everything it feeds off of the split seconds column wheel engaged by the third pusher to remain completely in sync but the intricacy required to feed that input all the way around to the other side of the movement is just astounding the caliber l001.1 is more congested than la traffic barely a millimeter to spare to accommodate all these moving parts or 465 of them and not a screw less in a sequence of orderly chaos but the most unbelievable thing is that our longan's honor could have drawn a line under it there and been done with it but no because and i can't believe i'm saying this it's also a flyback yes despite all that complexity despite all those layers working independently of each other just one press on the reset pusher sends the whole lot back to square one to instantly restart incredible it takes courage and fortitude for a watchmaker to commit precious years to developing such a mind-boggling creation as this but as impressive as the double split is as legendary as the caliber l001.1 has become our langan's honor has gone one better yes i'm talking about the triple split if you want to see that watch right here we need each and every one of you to subscribe to the channel like the video comment and share then maybe just maybe we can get that mythological watch right here in front of you let's make it happen discover more exceptional watches at watchfinder thank you so much for watching this video if you enjoyed it please do consider giving it a like and subscribing to the channel if there are any watches you'd like to see featured please let us know in the comments below

Channel: Watchfinder & Co.

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Id: tSYgbL9xByc

Length: 10min 17sec (617 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 12 2020