Striving for perfection
On the day of the pre-Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) presentation on Dec 7, A. Lange & Söhne announced the winner of its F.A. Lange Watchmaking Excellence Award 2016. Tanguy Huret from France walked away with €10,000 ($15,200) in prize money. This year’s challenge was to construct and build a full calendar timepiece. Eight young watchmakers from France, Sweden, Finland, the US, Japan and Germany took part in the competition. They spent a week at A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte, Germany, last May to prepare for the final submission in November. The judging panel comprised Walter Lange, the great-grandson of company brand founder F A Lange; product development director Anthony de Haas, journalists and watch experts Gisbert L Brunner and Peter Bran, and Dr Peter Plaßmeyer, director of the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments in Dresden. They were impressed by Huret’s entry, which fulfilled all four criteria of the competition equally: originality, technical functionality, quality of craftsmanship and aesthetic implementation. The judges said his was the best work that had ever been submitted in the history of the awards. Huret, 25, designed a full calendar as an annual calendar which correctly incorporates the lengths of all the different months. He also submitted a technically sophisticated solution with three overlapping dials, creating a unique aesthetic effect. He is currently completing his training at the Lycée Polyvalent Edgar Faure in Morteau, France.