The Coveted Trophy: A. Lange & Söhne's 1815 Chronograph for the Concorso d’Eleganza

A unique chronograph as a prize for victory in the automotive parade.

Britain and Germany Battle for Luxury Supremacy; The Birth of the Supercar; and Space, Pace and Grace — these aren't the names of new documentaries or thrillers, they're classes for cars participating in the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d'Este.

The spectacular exhibition of classic vehicles and modern supercars will be held in an atmosphere of laid-back luxury on the shore of Lake Como, but the prizes will set hearts racing and make it a real competition. A. Lange & Söhne have been official partners of the Concorso d'Eleganza  Since 2012.

They're also the ones who'll present the main prize — a watch for the winner of the Coppa d’Oro Villa d'Este (Best of Show). Covid-19 put a question mark over whether the contest could be held or now, but the event is now set to go ahead at the beginning of October instead of May.

And this year the participants polishing their cars to a mirror-like sheen have something worth competing for again. The reward would usually be the Lange 1 Time Zone "Como Edition" model with a special engraving on the caseback and "Como" written on the dial displaying the European time among the cities around the dial.

This is the first year contestants will fight over a special one-of-a-kind limited edition version of the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph. This version of a chronograph which previously sported silver and black dials has an unexpected look.

The changes can be spotted straight away: these aren't just changes to the cities or minor details, the watch dial is in pink gold. The rest is a play on contrasts. The case which is 39.5 mm in diameter is made of white gold, although the collection also had rose-gold case options which would have matched the dial.

Color has also used for the first time to highlight the chronograph counters which are now brown. The gold hour and minute hands as well as the silver small seconds and chronograph hands are all rhodium-plated.

Like the earlier watches for the Concorso d'Eleganza, this model is equipped with a hinged caseback with the event's coat of arms, the year the first competition was held (1929) and the current year. The manufacture movement hidden behind the caseback is the hand-wound caliber L951.5 with a 60-hour power reserve.

This movement which was developed for the 1815 Chronograph series and debuted in the line back in 2010 still hasn't lost its charm. It's comprised of 306 components, runs at a frequency of 18,000 vph and ensures timekeeping accurate to up to one fifth of a second.