Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Calendar

We'll just come right out and say it: The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph might just be the most important watch of the modern era.

With its combination of avant-garde and teutonic design languages, mind-blowing mechanical architecture, function-heavy use, and luxury materials, the Datograph has not only won the hearts and minds of collectors and enthusiasts the world over, it created and set the bar for modern high-horology. And it came from Germany, not Switzerland.

We are yet to meet a horological virtuoso who doesn't consider the Datograph to be anything other than a triumph of design and mechanical engineering. Indeed, even the maestro himself — Philippe Dufour — can regularly be spotted wearing his rose gold example from the first series!

From its hefty wrist presence to the depth and intricacy of its 'miniature city-like' movement, the snap of its flyback chronograph mechanism and the ever-rewarding outsize date function, the Datograph is a triumph, pure and simple.

This particular example dating to circa the 2010s takes the standard Datograph to a new level by adding a perpetual calendar complication to the ALS Calibre L951.1, yielding the hand-cranking Calibre L952.1 perpetual calendar flyback chronograph movement.

It features a 40.5mm case fashioned out of platinum with a polished platinum bezel, a signed crown, square pushers, and a satin silver dial with an outer tachymeter scale, an inner 1/5th-seconds track, applied Roman and 'baton' indices, and a matching luminous 'lance' handset. Displaying a wealth of information, it features an outsize date window below 12 o'clock; a combination 30- minute totalizer, month display, and leap year indicator at 3 o'clock; a moon phase display above 6 o'clock; and a combination running seconds and day of the week indicator at 9 o'clock.

Thankfully, as with most Langes, a sapphire display caseback reveals the impressive (and dare we say "seductive") Calibre L952.1 movement. Paired to a signed black alligator leather strap with a platinum pin buckle, it's a picture of horological perfection.

Far be it from us to equate (or conflate) watches with traditional "investments" — but if you’re looking to park your money on a horological work of art, a technical marvel, or an ultra-functional machine, then you’ve come to the right place.

It simply doesn’t get much better than a Datograph — especially a perpetual calendar-chronograph model.