After the unrestrained and unfettered tourbillons of Zenith, Concord and Romain Jerome, the tourbillon as imagined and envisioned by A. Lange & Sohne is as refreshing as a shot of vodka after the excesses of blended whisky. With this watch, the Glashutte company has literally found a way to stop time – by bringing the tourbillon to a complete halt. 

The watchmakers were discomfited by the fact that they were unable to set time accurately on tourbillon watches because the escapement assembly continued to whirl about unabated.

Using the simplest of touches, effectively a lever system, the manufacture managed to put the brakes on the tourbillon mechanism, as illustrated by this image provided by A. Lange & Sohne. Of course, as useful as this mechanism is, it seems most likely to be a test to adapt it and include in all future A. Lange & Sohne tourbillons.