Welcome to our series highlighting the exceptional watches available through PERPETUAL, Phillips’ boutique service offering immediate access to the world’s rarest and most desirable timepieces. You can view all currently available watches by stopping in at our London headquarters at 30 Berkeley Square, or by visiting Phillips PERPETUAL online. Our new "Buy Now" button makes acquiring the watch of your dreams easier than ever.
– ˜By Logan Baker
A. Lange & Söhne's Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon ref. 740.056 is not a quiet watch.
With a white gold case and solid pink gold salmon dial, this limited edition release from 2019 doesn’t just combine A. Lange & Söhne’s signature design language with three heavyweight complications. It announces, with a kind of restrained bravado, just how far the brand has come in mastering movement architecture, dial balance, and mechanical poetry.
Released three years after the original 2016 version in platinum with a black dial, the ref. 740.056 shifts the mood entirely. Gone is the stealth-wealth noir. In its place, a metallic salmon dial that plays with light and warmth, inviting you to look longer – and rewarding you with something new every time. It was a boutique-only release of just 100 pieces, and while it shares its technical DNA with the 2016 edition, the visual impact couldn’t be more different.
Let’s start with the dial. The traditional Datograph triangle remains: the big date at 12 o’clock, two balanced sub-dials at 3 and 9, and the moonphase nestled above 6 o'clock. But look closer, and the harmony deepens. Each sub-dial hosts multiple layers of information: the left carries running seconds, day of the week, and a day/night indicator; the right tracks elapsed minutes, the month, and leap year. The sub-dials are stepped, helping the eye distinguish between functions. Blue-steel chronograph hands slice cleanly across the salmon backdrop, while solid white gold hands deliver time and calendar indications with heft and grace.
The tachymeter ring along the rehaut also houses the power reserve indicator, cleverly integrated to avoid breaking symmetry. It’s a subtle detail, but emblematic of Lange’s approach: no function is added without aesthetic consideration.
Then there’s the tourbillon – or rather, the absence of it, until you turn the watch over. Unlike most tourbillon-equipped watches that showcase the cage front and center, Lange hides theirs on the reverse, revealing that this is a watch for the owner, not the onlooker.
What you find on the back is worth the effort. The caliber L952.2 is a towering achievement: 729 components, hand-assembled, hand-finished, and breathtakingly three-dimensional. Based on the legendary L951.1 that powered the original Datograph, the L952.2 integrates a flyback chronograph, instantaneous perpetual calendar, and one-minute tourbillon – all in a single, cohesive movement. No modular mess here. Lange built this engine from the ground up, prioritizing symmetry and beauty.
The tourbillon itself measures 12.6mm in diameter, its three-armed cage gleaming with sharp interior angles, brushed bevels, and a diamond end-stone. A patented stop-tourbillon mechanism, first introduced in 2008, halts the balance when the crown is pulled – allowing precise time-setting, an otherwise rare feature in tourbillon-equipped watches. The movement bridges are made of untreated German silver and finished with Glashütte ribbing, perlage, and hand-engraved balance cocks.
So, what’s it like on the wrist?
Heavy. Let’s not pretend otherwise. At 41.9mm in diameter and 14.6mm thick, cased in white gold, the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon doesn’t disappear under a cuff. But that presence is part of the appeal. It’s a reminder of what you’re wearing: one of the most complicated and carefully constructed watches ever made by a modern manufacturer.
Comfort isn’t neglected, though. Lange includes a white gold deployant buckle that helps balance the mass, and the stepped case design – brushed back, brushed caseband, polished bezel — lends visual lightness to a watch that could otherwise appear bulky.
What sets this version apart is that salmon dial. Cut from solid pink gold, it offers a warmer, deeper hue than anodized aluminum or lacquered variants.
Is it the best Lange? That depends on your taste. But it’s hard to argue there’s a more complete encapsulation of the brand’s values: technical excellence, classical design, and a refusal to compromise.
You can learn more about the above models and view all the currently in-stock watches online at Phillips PERPETUAL.
Phillips PERPETUAL offers a boutique experience to clients for both the sale and purchase of fine and rare watches, in London’s Berkeley Square, Hong Kong's Pedder Arcade, and the Gstaad Palace, in Switzerland.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He's based in Geneva.
Visit Phillips PERPETUAL /
30 Berkeley Square, London, United Kingdom, W1J 6EX (map)
Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM – 17:30 PM
Contact & Consignment Enquiries /
00 44 207 901 7916
perpetual@phillips.com
@phillipsperpetual
Discover More from Phillips PERPETUAL >