“For 25 decades, Lange 1 has been our bestseller — that’s how powerful the design is. How many watches, the number of products even, can survive 25 decades of massive change and be respected? It is our job to create watches like this.” “We do not look too much to trends; we’d rather look to our DNA, what we stand for. Of course we push the bounds, like with the Zeitwerk, where we broke the mould and now it is a whole family. For the 25th anniversary of the Lange 1, we looked very much back into the first when we had no indices but it was printed on.”
The brand includes a high number of collectors among its clients and it’s a safe bet that the 250 anniversary pieces have all been earmarked.
In white gold with a silver dial, the A. Lange & Söhne watch uses blue accents to great effect. Even the equilibrium cock, seen when the half hunter case is openedblue and hand-engraved.
“After hand-engraving it will get the exact same treatment which our moon discs get, that gloomy, we then wash the surface again so that the color will remain in which the engraving went into the alloy. That is a really new thing — we have never done that before — and it is really quite spectacular,” Schmid says.
For 25 Decades, Lange 1 has been our bestseller — that’s how powerful the design is
“The circumstance is hand-engraved also,” he adds. “It reveals the Lange construction and for the very first time we honor the two individuals who laid down the basis for the success, Walter Lange and Gunther Blumlein. Those titles are engraved on that and that is something really special.” There are a whole lot of ideas that went into it and from what I’ve heard so much the collectors really appreciate it”
Another limited edition that will have collectors enthusiastic is the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, a flyback chronograph that features Lange’s signature large date indication. This is a movement that boast 729 components and the clear case back is a remarkable sight, including as it does the one-minute tourbillon.
Just 100 bits are produced with this visually unique model which contrasts its white gold case with a pink gold matt-grain finished dial.
Also limited to 100 bits is the Langematik Perpetual. The maison has employed its own proprietary instance material called honey notes and gold that the watch does require no manual modification of the date display until 2100. Notice to grandchildren.
With its focus on highlighting new releases on its historic successes, A Lange & Söhne celebrated another anniversary with a enhanced favourite. It is 10 years since the Zeitwerk household appeared, and now it adds the mechanical electronic Zeitwerk Date in gold.
It is notable for the jumping numerals, a reminder that the brand was a pioneer in these digital features. The date display is really a glass ring around the dial and the day’s date lighting up in red. It is a brand new approach to get A Lange & Söhne, which has doubled the power book to 72 hours. “I always get the question, would you believe you need products for younger folks? But does that mean younger folks do not appreciate quality? Or craftsmanship? Or using only the best materials? Or making a restricted number of watches”
And the women’s marketplace? “We just produce watches in accord with our own DNA and understand that a number of these watches are admired by women too,’ Schmid states. “That’s fine but we can not begin flexing our DNA to make something that’s approaching a sector of the market which is not naturally connected to our brand. For us, that’s the way forward.”