A. Lange & Söhne's TRIPLE SPLIT is the world’s first mechanical split-seconds chronograph that allows multi-hour comparative time measurements. This is possible thanks to the triple rattrapante mechanism for seconds, minutes and hours. This timepiece can precisely measure and compare single and additive times, an unlimited number of intermediate and reference times, and two concurrently started events that last as long as twelve hours ‒ to an accuracy of one-sixth of a second.

In the creation of a mechanical watch, the utmost care is taken to minimise the distance between the hands to prevent any unnecessary increase in the timepiece’s overall thickness. The intricacy of this task is amplified when multiple hands are layered on top of each other, as is the case with the TRIPLE SPLIT, where the distance between the lower edge of the rattrapante centre hand and the upper edge of the chrono centre hand is a mere 0.3 mm.

Both hands are elongated and require a high degree of precision in their alignment to prevent accidental contact. They are also meticulously crafted to be slim and delicate, a design element that allows for rapid resetting after time measurements but also makes them sensitive to vibrations. Due to these factors, the watchmakers must exercise a great deal of precision when setting the hands.