The A. Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual "Pour le Mérite" combines a one-minute tourbillon, a rattrapante chronograph and a perpetual calendar in caliber L133.1. It adds a fusée-and-chain drive. No other series-produced watch pairs all four. The nearest rivals are Patek Philippe grand complications and Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers commissions. Lange leads on movement construction. Patek leads on secondary market depth and service network size.
What the Lange movement does
Caliber L133.1 is hand-wound. The fusée-and-chain holds torque steady as the mainspring unwinds, so rate stays stable across the power reserve. The tourbillon has a stop mechanism for setting. The calendar shows date, day, month, leap year and moon phase. It needs one correction in 2100, per the Gregorian leap rule. The chronograph is a rattrapante: two seconds hands, one for split timing.
Tourbograph Perpetual Calendar Replica Features: What the Listings Claim
Comparison by complication set
- Lange Tourbograph Perpetual: tourbillon, rattrapante, perpetual calendar, fusée-and-chain.
- Patek Philippe ref. 5207: minute repeater, tourbillon, instantaneous perpetual calendar.
- Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers: one-off commissions, spec set by the order.
The function lists do not match. A minute repeater takes more hand adjustment than a rattrapante, and a rattrapante takes more than a fusée-and-chain. Buyers who want sound pick the Patek. Buyers who want the chain and the split-seconds hand pick the Lange.
Buying Guide: Tourbograph Perpetual Calendar Watch Replica
Case and daily use
The Tourbograph Perpetual is a large, thick watch. Three complications and a chain add height to the case. The calendar correctors sit on the caseband, and a corrector tool ships in the box. The case is not built for swimming. The Patek 5207 sits lower on the wrist.
fake tourbograph perpetual calendar watch price
Price and supply
A. Lange & Söhne quotes the reference on request. Honey gold is the version in most dealer listings, ref. 706.025. Auction lots appear in the Geneva and Hong Kong sales at Phillips and Sotheby's. Secondary prices track how many pieces come to market in a season. Production numbers are not published.
Clone and replica versions
Replica sellers use the names Tourbograph and Tourbograph Perpetual for Lange-style cases. Two checks separate a real complication from a lookalike. First, watch the calendar at midnight: a perpetual calendar changes date, day and month in one step. A lookalike drags or skips. Second, look at the tourbillon cage: a real one carries a balance, hairspring and escape wheel that move. Public documentation of clone movements is thin. Treat a claim of a working fusée-and-chain as unverified.
Checks before you buy
- Ask for the movement number and match it to the caseback engraving.
- Test the calendar on a 30-day month and on Feb 28.
- Start the rattrapante, stop it, then rejoin it to the running seconds hand.
- Request service records, box and papers.
Lange services the watch in Glashütte or at a regional service center. Ask for the last service date. A split-seconds mechanism that runs dry wears at the isolator.