Short answer
A replica Zeitwerk strike is a copy of the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Striking Time. The genuine watch has jumping hour and minute numerals, a small seconds dial at 12 o'clock, and a hammer at 9 o'clock that strikes a gong. Lange released the Striking Time in 2011 as an addition to the 2009 Zeitwerk line. Almost all replicas copy the dial layout. Almost none copy the chime. The hammer on most replicas is fixed to the plate and never moves.
The genuine watch in numbers
- Zeitwerk, 2009. Hour and minute shown as numerals. The minute numeral jumps once per minute, the hour numeral once per hour.
- Striking Time, 2011. Caliber L043.2. Two gongs and a hammer. The full hour strikes, and each quarter hour strikes. About 36 hours of running time.
- Case. White gold or pink gold, about 44 mm across. Smooth bezel. No date window.
- Movement. Hand-wound. 388 parts in the base caliber L043.1.
- Minute Repeater, 2015. Sounds hours, then ten-minute intervals, then minutes on demand. Six-figure price at retail and on the used market.
Why the jump is hard to copy
The genuine watch stores one minute of energy in a constant-force escapement. That energy releases when the minute disc turns. Two discs, hour and minute, move in sequence. Nothing on the dial slides. The numbers step. A replica jump mechanism uses a cam and a light spring, or a disc driven straight off the movement. On those copies the minute disc creeps before it snaps, and the hour disc can sit half a step past the mark right before the hour changes.
Points to check before you buy
- Disc alignment. Ask for photos taken at 9:59 and at 10:00. The numerals should sit centered in the aperture at both times.
- Print. Genuine numerals sit on a matte black disc with sharp edges. Blurry edges and gray fill point to low-grade work.
- Hammer and gongs. Look at the 9 o'clock side. A working strike shows a gong ring and a hammer that lifts. A static hammer that touches nothing is decoration.
- Pusher. On the genuine watch a pusher near 4 o'clock turns the strike on and off. Confirm the replica pusher does something.
- Small seconds. The subdial sits at 12 o'clock, inside the time bridge. Off-center subdials and printed hands are common defects.
- Thickness and weight. Jump-hour modules add height. A flat case with a thin back points to discs that are not driven by a real mechanism.
Prices and what the market shows
Quartz copies of this design sell for about $120 to $250. Automatic jump-hour versions run $300 to $700. A listing that promises a working minute repeater under $1,000 does not match the cost of the parts. A real chiming mechanism needs two gongs, a hammer, and a governor, and that assembly is the most expensive part of the watch. Genuine Striking Time examples trade in the low six figures. Genuine Minute Repeater examples sit above that.
Legal note
Selling counterfeit watches is a federal crime in the United States, and U.S. Customs can seize shipments at the border. Buying a watch sold as a replica differs in law from selling one, but import seizure is a risk for either. Keep the receipt. Treat any claim of "genuine Lange" on a replica listing as a red flag.