What makes a watch even more exclusive" One factor is the finishes lavished on its movement, especially if they?re handcrafted. A. Lange & Söhne decorates especially beautifully. Here’s a look at the Saxon manufacture’s famed finishing techniques.
Manual Engraving

The hand-engraved balance cock is a Glashütte specialty that?s still mastered and practiced by only a few brands in Germany?s watchmaking mecca. The surface of this component is usually decorated with floral ornaments. The engravings are usually inlaid with gold. For the special model to celebrate the 25th birthday of the Lange 1, the engravers integrated the number 25 in the style of the famous Lange Big Date and painted the engravings blue, which is the anniversary color. The spring in the swan?s neck fine adjustment mechanism and the cover plate of the escape wheel are given a flat polish by manually moving the components in a figure eight pattern for two hours while pressing them against various diamond-coated polishing foils.
Sunburst Pattern

The Glashütte sunburst is another local specialty. It?s used on the ratchet wheel and crown wheel. This decoration consists of fine lines that radiate from the center toward the periphery. Unlike a conventional sunburst finish, the rays are curved rather than being straight or nearly straight. The strokes are either continuous or subdivided into several concentric rings. In both variations, the reflections on the surface seem to move in a ci...