I was there when the Zeitwerk “Luminous” was launched at SIHH in January 2010, just a few months after the launch of the original Zeitwerk in May 2009. To say that I was impressed with the Zeitwerk “Luminous” when I first saw it that year is an understatement. Already the original Zeitwerk was, and is, a landmark in contemporary watchmaking. A luminous version, well, what could be better?
Even though the most complicated Lange debuted that year was the Tourbograph Honeygold “Homage to F. A. Lange” for the 165th anniversary (an odd milestone to celebrate but that’s another story), the glow-in-the-dark Zeitwerk was the star. Enough of a star that Johann Rupert, the controlling shareholder of Richemont, has been spotted wearing one on several occasions.
I was already a longtime fan of the brand, but that Zeitwerk “Luminous” was astonishing. Even though it was, strictly speaking, merely a cosmetic variation, the Zeitwerk “Luminous” was cool – and that was a big deal for a brand like Lange. I wrote this about the watch at SIHH 2010:
“[It] is absolutely unconventional… even avant-garde… During the day this has a dark, almost brooding look, but at night it glows tenaciously… This avant-garde PVD Lange is utterly cool (yes, “Lange” and “cool” in the same sentence). It is a tad gimmicky, but the lesson is this: gimmicks are forgiven if a watch is truly high quality and innovative.”
I wasn’t the only one who thought that way, because though the watch debuted in a difficult environment, it enjoyed commercial success.
The watch almost immediately acquired the “Phantom” nickname. The name was entirely appropriate, but might have come about because there were murmurings at the time that one of Lange’s sister brands was unhappy with the German brand’s use of “Luminous”. That, presumably, led to the Latin-derived Lumen label for the collection of luminous limited editions.
Quirks and character
For me, the first-generation Zeitwerk is one of the most significant timepieces Lange has created, perhaps even the brand’s most recent significant wristwatch. The Zeitwerk “Luminous” is practically identical to the standard first-generation model, so if you closed your eyes you would not be able to differentiate between the two.
On the wrist, it is equally large and heavy. Maybe even a little too large and heavy, leaving it feeling a little clunky. But the heft feels good, and more importantly, the size is grounded in technical perfection. The movement is wide, thick, and far, far more complex than the clean, linear digital display lets on.
Although the Zeitwerk “Luminous” has its own movement, the L043.3, as opposed to the L043.1 found in the standard first-generation model, both calibres are essentially identical. The differences in the two lie in modest changes to the time display on the front to accommodate the sapphire dial.
The L043.3
As such, L043.3 in the “Luminous” is at heart a first-generation Zeitwerk movement, with all of the quirks of the calibre. Amongst the quirks is a short, 36-hour power reserve on a single, thick mainspring.
Almost comically short by today’s standards, 36 hours for a complex, energy intensive watch was passable in the late 1990s and 2000s (the original Datograph also ran for only 36 hours). This was before power reserves of three days or so became the norm, mostly thanks to improved mainspring alloys and geometry.
In comparison, the second-generation Zeitwerk manages a 72-hour power reserve – that’s twice as long – with a barrel of the same diameter but slightly taller to accommodate two stacked mainsprings.
The barrel with its Maltese cross stopwork that prevents the mainspring from being wound beyond the 36-hour mark; the mainspring runs a little longer than that but with unneeded torque that generates excess wear
Another defining feature of the first-generation movement is the “arming” of the minute disc before it jumps every 60 seconds.
At the 55-second mark, the minute disc slides downwards ever so slightly, which is accompanied by a nearly inaudible click. This signals that the jumping mechanism has been “armed”, with a tiny spring tensioned and ready to release at the 60-second mark, at which point the minutes disc advances by one step. While some regarded this as a shortcoming of the movement, I see it as an intrinsic feature that is a consequence of the movement construction.
This process was eliminated in 2016 when the movement was improved. During this upgrade, majority of the jumping minutes mechanism was revamped, resulting in the “arming” taking place invisibly and inaudibly at the 30-second mark. The minutes jump is thus seamless and essentially perfect. This was achieved mainly by reworking the minute wheel, transforming it into a two-level gear with play between the two levels.
The first-generation remontoir (left), and its successor since 2016
A special tint
The Zeitwerk “Luminous” is basically identical to the standard first-generation model in terms of the case and movement, with the dial being the key difference.
Like the movement, the tinted sapphire dial is more complex than it seems. According to Lange, a German technical institute was recruited to devise a solution to the challenge of “charging” the Super-Luminova on the discs. The discs had to be exposed to light during the daytime in order for the luminous material to store enough energy to glow at night.
The result was a special tint that allows ultraviolet (UV) rays of 250-430 nm to pass through the dial unhindered, while blocking light on the visible spectrum. In principle, the tint does the opposite of a pair of sunglasses, which have a coating that blocks UV light but allows in visible light. This gives the Zeitwerk “Luminous” its characteristic darkly-shaded dial that reveals movement below, but not entirely.
The dial is further made unique by the time bridge. Alone amongst Zeitwerk models, the “Luminous” has a dark grey coating on the wing-shaped time display bridge, which results in the monochromatic palette. Ordinarily, the German silver bridge is left either untreated or rhodium plated, both of which results in a brighter finish.
Reflections
Cool as it was, the Zeitwerk “Luminous” was expensive at about US$91,200, versus US$75,900 for the standard platinum edition (while the popular white gold model with a black dial was just US$54,500). But it still sold out swiftly. I remember a watch collector, who was then an internationally recognised captain of industry, telling me he was surprised at having a hard time landing one.
That year was the tail end of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and the watch industry wasn’t in the best shape – and you could feel it in the air. In fact, Lange’s then-chief executive, Fabian Krone, resigned with immediate effect in September 2009, reputedly after Jérôme Lambert was installed as his boss as a consequence of flagging sales during the recession.
Fabian Krone at a Lange event in 2009, a month before he departed the brand (here in an abysmal photo and I blame the technology of the period)
A wrist shot of the Zeitwerk during the 2009 launch event
In that context, it was an achievement that the Zeitwerk “Luminous” sold as well as it did. In the following years, it sold for above the retail price on the secondary market, which was notable in itself for that era. All of this reflected the unique allure of the model.
At the time, Lange was something of a grassroots, enthusiast-driven brand, so that level of commercial success was the exception rather than the norm. Today the opposite is true – the recent Lange 1 30th Anniversary editions all sold easily and quickly – so commercial success has less basis in the intrinsic quality or appeal of a watch.
Building on the success of the “Luminous”, Lange has grown the Lumen collection, which is now six strong. While the first four Lumen models were almost monochromatic in black and shades of grey, the palette has grown warmer, probably to accommodate consumer preferences for such colours.
The first was the Zeitwerk Honeygold “Lumen” of 2021, which is based on the second-generation Zeitwerk. And last year Lange marked 25 years of the Datograph with the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold “Lumen”, a complicated, expensive, and impressive watch.
The Zeitwerk Honeygold Lumen
For me, the “Phantom” still stands out as the best in the Lumen collection, both aesthetically and for the simple reason it was the first. The more recent “Lumen” edition is unquestionably superior from a technical standpoint given the newer calibre, but it lacks the cool monochrome appearance of the original. The Datograph grand complication, on the other hand, is both grand and complicated, but it’s not more than that.
Editions and variants aside, the Zeitwerk in general is an important watch. While it’s not the only digital wristwatch in contemporary watchmaking, it is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and robust. F.P. Journe’s Vagabondage is more exotic and immeasurably more elegant, but it is more finicky. As for the Harry Winston Opus 3 – I wouldn’t bet on it to tell time reliably.
From left: The Zeitwerk Date, which was the first second-generation model launched; Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst; and Zeitwerk Luminous
With that in mind, it’s obvious that the “Phantom” has only one rival as the Zeitwerk: the Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst. Paradoxically fancier and more monochromatic at the same time, the Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst is hand engraved, front and back, but almost entirely in shades of grey, save for a red accent on the power reserve.
The escapement parts in the Handwerkskunst are made of 18k hardened white gold, including the Glashütte lever
Besides the decorative tweaks, the Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst is special thanks to an obscure technical detail: the movement boasts a hand-made Glashütte lever escapement that Lange has not employed in any other watch.
But though the Zeitwerk Handwerkskunst is arguably superior in many tangible respects – decoration, rarity, calibre – the Zeitwerk “Luminous” has an inimitable appeal, especially considering the time and place of its birth.
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