When A. Lange & Söhne was resurrected by Walter Lange (great grandson of founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange) and Günter Blümlein (who had previously overseen the resurgence of IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre), they did so with four lines – Arkade, Saxonia, Tourbillon Pour le Mérite and the Lange 1. While each bore a distinct design language, the Lange 1 has come to be viewed as the quintessence of A. Lange & Söhne and the purest expression of Glashütte watchmaking.
Elemental to this is the decentralised display. Drawing lines from the centre of each display – the time, subsidiary seconds and the date – would result in an isosceles triangle. The layout is an inspired work of industrial design, revealing a deep understanding not just of proportional use of space but also how the wearer will interact with the watch face.
Made for the Dubail watch store in Paris, this Lange 1 reference 110.049 is a variation of the “Soirée” collection and is limited to 25 pieces. It features a mother-of-pearl dial that goes from the inky depths of the ocean to the shade of water over a shallow reef. Mother of pearl is exceedingly delicate, and therefore remarkably difficult to work with. The shells are carefully selected, polished, and cut, before they go through the brand’s finishing and assembly process. Owing to it being naturally occurring, no two shells employed on these dials have the exact same pattern.
The 38.5mm white gold case features three parts. The rounded bezel is polished with a flat facet where it meets the horizontally satinated midcase. The rim of the exhibition case wears circular satination. The caseback wears facets that are polished. The lugs, soldered onto the midcase, are marginally stepped. They have a bevelled facet, and curve down dramatically. They are 20mm apart and are furnished with a baby blue alligator grained leather strap secured with a signed, white gold pin buckle. The pusher at 10 o'clock quick sets the date. The caseback rim features engravings detailing the brand mark, the serial number of a limited series of 25, the name of the retailer the series was created for as well as the place of origin.
The dial wears white printing for all scales as well as lettering detailing the brand mark, place of origin and the twin barrel feature of the movement. The time display, set against a circular-grained backdrop, features an applied quarter Roman chapter of hours with applied diamond indices for the rest. The slightly overlapping subsidiary seconds register wears baton style printed markers. Both registers, as well as the up-down power reserve indicator, are plied by the brand’s signature alpha-style hands. The large twin window date display is adorned with high contrast black numbers.
The manually wound calibre L901.4 is typical A. Lange & Söhne fare – it is marked by a large three-quarter German silver plate and a balance bridge lavished with free-hand engraving. The stainless-steel tip of the escape bridge is black polished. The large bridge is adorned with striping with the brand mark, retail partner, serial number and the number of positions it is adjusted to (five) engraved in gold. The wheels of the two barrels and those of the going train pivot on jewels ensconced in gold chatons. All visible screws are heat blued. The watch has a lever escapement and the balance beats at 21,600 A/h. When fully wound, the watch offers 72 hours of autonomy.
This rarefied example represents the craft A. Lange & Söhne can infuse into their time-tested designs. Paired with a precious metal, ergonomically refined case, it is one of the most desired iterations of the Lange 1.
