The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 is a true modern classic

Borna Bošnjak

There are watch collectors who tend toward the familiarity of the classics. Stalwarts like the Submariner, Tank, Speedmaster, and many more are blue-chip pieces for certain, and any of these could be the cornerstone of a rock-solid collection. Then there are collectors whose tastes have progressed to another level, into the realm of haute horlogerie, where immaculate dial and casework meet in-house movements, rife with elaborate hand decoration. One thing that both of these types of collectors have in common is a deep respect for history, and while you won’t find true enthusiasts scoffing at a watch for potentially lacking it, there’s a reason why the likes of the Holy Trinity are what they are. Unlike the Holy Trinity, A. Lange & Söhne had a rocky start to its eventual path to stardom, beginning with its rebirth in 1994 spearheaded by the topic of this article. The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 was unconventional, namely the way it looked, and would go on to define the brand’s raison d’être ever since. For the 30th anniversary of its revival, we thought we’d tell you its story.

How it began

The A. Lange & Söhne story begins in 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded his company in Glashütte, Germany. Born in 1815, as a young man he received technical schooling in Dresden, including watchmaking from his future father-in-law. He later made his way to Paris (then a centre of fine watchmaking) for further instruction before returning to Germany. After marrying the boss’ daughter, he lobbied the Saxony government to help in establishing his own watchmaking workshop in Glashütte.

Along the way, he is credited with many innovations, including early adoption of metric measurements in watchmaking, new tools, and new manufacturing methods. As a result, his timepieces were revered far and wide, with members of the Russian royal family as some of his biggest fans. And with the advent of railroads, precise timekeeping became more important than ever. Eventually, his two sons, Richard and Emil, joined him in the family business. Upon his death in 1875, his sons continued making some of the most highly regarded timepieces of the era. Some of their finest work includes this pocket watch given by Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Future generations of the family continued the tradition of technical innovation and exceptional craftsmanship, Richard Lange being the standout watchmaker amongst them, as he showed exceptional watch design talent and would go on to create numerous patents. Two of Lange’s greatest achievements of this period came at the beginning of the 20th century. These were the No. 41000 Jahrhunderttourbillon (“the hundred-year tourbillon”), and the astounding Grand Complication No. 42500. The former was created specially for the Paris Expo of 1900, and was the first tourbillon showcased internationally by A. Lange & Söhne, cased in platinum and with an enamel painting of the goddess Minerva and Paris. The Grand Complication, on the other hand, was ordered in 1902 by Heinrich Schäfer, only one was ever made, and it featured a grande and petite sonnerie, a minute repeater, a split-seconds chronograph, and a perpetual calendar.

But the start of the 20th century also the beginning of an era of turmoil for the brand. As WWI loomed, the demand for fine watches in Germany plummeted, and A. Lange & Söhne could not keep up with the mass-production Deutsche Präzisions-Uhrenfabrik Glashütte in Sachsen GmbH conglomerate founded by other German watchmakers. The end of the war didn’t help, either, as inflation in the Weimar Republic ran rampant, and sales of Lange’s newly developed, cost-effective calibres went nowhere. The family business went from the hands of Emil and Richard to Emil’s three sons, and then onto Walter Lange in the 1940s. Set to follow in his great-grandfather’s footsteps, Walter attended watchmaking school in 1941. Sadly, the Lange family business wasn’t destined to last, as World War II ravaged Europe. Lange was one of the manufacturers chosen to build B-Uhr fliegers for the Luftwaffe alongside other precision instruments, only for the main factory building to be destroyed by bombing on the last night of the war. The Soviet occupation in 1948 put the nail in the coffin for the Lange name, as the Glashütte watchmakers became unified under VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, and the century-old family name disappeared.

Why the Lange 1 matters

This was not the end for the Lange name, however. After the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany in 1989, Walter Lange, with the guidance of watch industry veteran Günter Blümlein (who helped revive IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre), set upon bringing back his family’s business. A. Lange & Söhne was reintroduced to the world in 1990 as part of the Blümlein-helmed LMH Group, which included both IWC and JLC. A. Lange & Söhne created four prototypes, including the Arkade, Lange Tourbillon, Saxonia, and the original Lange 1, introducing them in 1994. LMH later became part of the giant Richemont Group (parent company of Cartier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Panerai and others) in the year 2000.

The Lange 1 was not just a new, fresh design. It was the stepping stone for A. Lange & Söhne to draw upon its historical significance and know-how, but also reintroduce high-end German watchmaking to the world. Its signature date complication went on to be patented and become a cornerstone of Lange designs, with cues that we now recognise as distinctly German. And the success of this initial design can only be appreciated once you realise that it hasn’t really changed since its introduction, and it doesn’t really need to. If anything, A. Lange & Söhne could very well be a one-trick pony brand, selling just the many different variants of the Lange 1, and it would still likely be successful. Visually, the Lange 1 stayed largely the same as the 1994 original, and rightly so. Apart from some minor tweaking of the dial lettering, this is one of those instances where someone got it very right the first time.

Proportionally disproportionate

At a casual glance, the Lange 1’s dial might appear to be a fragmented, scattershot design, but it’s remarkably balanced. In fact, it’s based on the golden ratio, with the placement of the time, running seconds, power reserve, and the distinctive outsize date forming an isosceles triangle.

Lange also weaves some history into this geometric design, as the iconic date window display is modelled after the Semper opera house clock in the city of Dresden. This five-minute clock from 1841 was coincidentally designed by Ferdinand Lange’s watchmaking instructor, Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes. Gutkaes produced the clock in his workshop, along with Lange and his other students, by request of King Frederick Augustus II. The outsize date was patented in 1992, and instantly became the visual calling card of the Lange 1, and graced the dials of other Lange models as well.

Unlike pretty much every current Lange watch you’ll come across, the first Lange 1 models were equipped with solid casebacks. That meant you couldn’t gawk at the L901.0 calibre within, but don’t think Lange didn’t bother to dress it up. This is the very calibre that gave rise to the now-iconic German silver three-quarter plate that we find on most Lange models, dotted with blued screw-held chatons and a hand-engraved balance cock. While it was built by Lange, the L901.0 actually used the going train from a JLC 822, though naturally modified to suit Lange’s needs. And those are not the only quirks associated with this movement. Despite all this lovely hand decoration, it doesn’t have a free-sprung balance, with latter models also ditching the Breguet overcoil of the very early examples (if you want to get even more specific, Langepedia talks about the Lange 1 movement and other quirks, in a lot more detail).

Notable models

I’ve already mentioned the original Lange 1 as being a game changer, and it’s still one of my personal favourites. The 38.5mm case is still the best size for a Lange 1, and there’s something undeniable about it being the very first. The only potential drawback I could think of is the solid caseback – which Lange rectified only a year later with follow-up references – but that doesn’t take away from how special this watch really is.

If a bright dial and gold case is a tad too much, but you still want the heft of a precious-metal watch on your wrist, then the Lange 1 Darth is the watch for you. It’s in the perfect (38.5mm) size, with a platinum case, and more importantly, it was also available with a special-order, platinum beads of rice bracelet.

But if we’re talking ultra-rare and special Lange 1 models, there could only be one that stands out above the rest. It’s not the Tourbillon Handwerkskunst nor the Lumen (both of which are uber cool in their own right), but rather the reference 101.050 in Honeygold. This is a material that’s usually reserved for the most special Lange pieces, and while it’s appeared in the Lange 1 collection a few times (ref. 116.050 Time Zone and ref. 722.050 Tourbillon), this classic 38.5mm Lange 1 speaks to me the most – and as it happens, many other Lange 1 fans. Apart from it being a 20-piece run and reserved for Lange’s best clients, it was also offered with the L901 movement rather than the updated L121 despite the latter already making its way into the usual offering. And the decoration is something else, reminiscent of the brand’s Handwerkskunst models, with frosting and hand-engraving of the three-quarter plate instead of the usual Glashütte ribbing.