Introducing A. Lange & Söhne Brings Back The Triple Split In Platinum, Reverse Panda Style

Even within a stable of mechanically and artistically superlative timepieces, A. Lange & Söhne's Triple Split stands out. Since its debut in 2018 to this day, it remains the only mechanical chronograph capable of measuring elapsed split time in seconds, minutes, and hours. It's pretty hard to overstate just how impressive that is - my good friend Logan Baker penned a fantastic piece about the Double and Triple Splits back in 2021, which was when the last Triple Split model was released. I highly recommend you give it a read, as it gets into the depths of how Lange pulled this off, and how challenging it was to do so.

Anyway: Geneva might be abuzz right now with Geneva Watch Days on, but those geniuses in Glashütte have also got something to get tongues wagging. Rather unexpectedly, Lange has just brought back the Triple Split in what is only the model's third-ever edition. The first was white gold. The second was pink gold. This one, however, is platinum.

Mechanically, it's identical to the previous two editions - we'll get into those mechanics in just a second - meaning it measures up at 43.2 millimetres in diameter and a whopping 15.6mm thick. For reference, the notoriously massive Lange 31 is only slightly chonkier at 15.9mm. Of course, a watch this complicated is expectedly not going to win any awards for slimness, but the point remains: this Lange is a beast of a watch, with the added heft of platinum making it even more of a monster.

If its proportions are 'beast', then its looks are very much 'beauty', however. Lange has paired its platinum case with a rhodium-coloured 950 silver dial sporting darker grey subdials, mounted on a dark brown alligator leather strap. Restrained pops of colour are provided by red 'warning' details for the chronograph minute and hour counters plus the power reserve indicator, as well as on the rattrapante second, minute and hour hands - a particularly considered touch that massively aids legibility when splitting time.

The Triple Split's calibre L132.1 is, without hyperbole, one of the most extraordinary watch movements of all time. Comprising 567 components, 46 jewels and 5 screwed gold chatons, it's an aesthetic and technical masterpiece. To look at the movement is to admire a miniature mechanical city, with all the usual Lange visual treats: anglage, acute internal angles, straight graining, Glashütte ribbing, a hand-engraved balance cock and acres of German silver.

The isolating system for the splitting functions might be the most technically innovative element of the L132.1 (see Logan's article), but I think a detail that's easily overlooked with the Triple Split is that it's a flyback as well as a rattrapante - meaning that with a single actuation of the 4 o'clock pusher, you can reset all currently active chronograph and rattrapante hands to zero. Also, the Triple Split has a superior power reserve to its (only slightly) less complicated Double Split sibling: 55 hours versus 38 hours.

With the release of this Triple Split, Lange has helpfully provided a few examples of how one might use the Triple Split to time different events. For instance, the brand suggests that during a marathon, you could use it to record the intermediate times of any number of runners (for example, after 10, 20 or 30 km) and determine the winner’s time as well as a second overall time. Because you can time events as long as 12 hours, you could also time an intercontinental flight or the mountain stage of the Tour de France (very specific, but danke schön, Lange).

Like the previous Triple Split iterations, this platinum model is limited to 100 pieces and is understandably POA. It will be presented during this year’s Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace in London during the first weekend of September, although Hodinkee ANZ has it on good authority that there might also be an example available for viewing in Australia later this month as well.

Alongside this first platinum Triple Split, Lange has also unveiled two new executions of the 1815 Up/Down. Both feature dark blue dials with silver subdials, are cased in 750 pink and white gold, respectively, and are limited to 300 individually numbered pieces for each alloy. There's far less to say about these two watches compared to the Triple Split, but they're nevertheless still very pleasant.

For those not familiar with the model, the Up/Down in its name refers to its power reserve indicator, a continuation of a long Saxon watchmaking tradition. Ab ('down' in German) denotes a totally unwound movement and Auf ('up') indicates a fully wound movement, with the power reserve indicator at 8 o'clock balanced by a small seconds indicator at 4 o'clock.

Trying to write a succinct, consumer-advocacy-tilted review of a watch like the A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split is almost an exercise in futility. This is a thoroughly exceptional watch in every sense: it's unbelievably complicated, it's absolutely massive, and almost no one will ever have the chance to try one on, let alone own one, as I predict most will have already been pre-sold (or it won't take long for Lange to fill its order books).

I have two main thoughts. Firstly, I'm a big fan of platinum watches generally, and I think this 'reverse panda' dial looks fantastic. In my opinion, this is the best-looking Triple Split yet: that acre of rhodium-tone pairs perfectly with its precious metal case, giving it a somewhat contemporary, fresh visage, and few should complain about a brown strap. Perversely, despite how complicated it is, it's also really quite legible.

My second, more critical thought: who's going to wear it? Lange chronographs (perhaps with the exception of the Odysseus Chronograph) aren't usually subtle, slip-under-the-cuff affairs, but a 15.6mm-thick platinum mega-chrono? I'd be very curious to weigh this Triple Split, because I wouldn't be surprised if it's a quarter-kilo. Again, wearability isn't really the point of this watch - that it exists as a wristwatch and not a pocket watch is already remarkable and a concession to wearability in itself - but in gold, it was already a workout; in platinum, you really need to make sure you're not skipping your bicep curls at the gym.

Ultimately, I'm glad to see the Triple Split make its return. This is an awe-inspiring watch, and I hope I'll be able to handle one for myself, even if it means booking a flight to the UK to see it at the Hampton Court Concours.

Brand: A. Lange & Söhne
Model: Triple Split
Reference: 424.025F
Diameter: 43.2mm
Thickness: 15.6mm
Case Material: 950 platinum
Dial: Rhodium-tone 925 silver with dark grey subdials; luminous hour and minute hands; subsidiary seconds and chronograph minute counter in rhodiumed 750 gold; power-reserve hand, chronograph seconds hand and chronograph hour counter in rhodiumed steel; rattrapante seconds hand, rattrapante minute counter and rattrapante hour counter in blued steel; appliqués in rhodiumed 750 gold, luminous hour markers at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock
Crystal: Sapphire front and back
Water Resistance: Not stated
Strap: Brown alligator leather, quick-release deployant buckle in 950 platinum

Calibre: L132.1, in-house
Functions: Hours, minutes, and subsidiary running seconds with stop seconds; flyback chronograph with triple rattrapante for additive and intermediate time measurements between one-sixth of a second and twelve hours; precisely jumping chronograph and rattrapante minute counters; continuous chronograph and rattrapante hour counters; tachymeter scale; UP/DOWN power-reserve indicator
Power Reserve: 55 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Diameter: 30.6mm
Thickness: 9.04mm
Jewels: 46
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: POA
Availability: From September 2026
Limited Edition: Yes, 100 individually numbered pieces

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