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.
Created for the Italian retailer Hausmann & Co in 2008, this reference 101.048F is limited to just 30 pieces, with an intriguing combination of colours rarely seen across A. Lange & Sohne's work. The base is a galvanic black dial with grey subdials, a monochromatic palette that gives the watch a very different look to most Lange watches, which a subtle pop of red completes.
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. The Hausmann series originally came with two casebacks - one a standard sapphire caseback and the more unusual version fitted to this example, which is a closed caseback bearing engraved signatures from A. Lange & Sohne and Hausmann together. This calls back to some of the first Lange watches, which featured closed casebacks.
The dial wears white printing for most scales and 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, and the indicator features a touch of red printing. 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.
