SIHH 2019: For A. Lange & Söhne, trends don’t mark the moment: ‘we’d rather look to our DNA’
“For 25 years, Lange 1 has been our bestseller – that’s how strong the design is. How many watches, how many products even, can survive 25 years of massive change and still be admired? It is our job to create watches like this.”
A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid is in no doubt that strength lies in history. “We do not look too much to trends; we’d rather look to our DNA, what we stand for. Of course we push the boundaries, like with the Zeitwerk, where we broke the mould and today it is a whole family. For the 25th anniversary of the Lange 1, we looked very much back to the original when we had no indices but it was printed on.”
The brand includes a large number of collectors among its clients and it is a safe bet that the 250 anniversary pieces have all been earmarked.
In white gold with a silver dial, the watch uses blue accents to great effect. Even the balance cock, seen when the half hunter case is opened, is blue and hand-engraved.
“After hand-engraving it will get the same treatment that our moon discs get, that blue, then we clean the surface again so that the colour will stay where the engraving went into the metal. That is a very new thing – we’ve never done that before – and it is really quite spectacular,” Schmid says. The number 25 is prominent.
For 25 years, Lange 1 has been our bestseller – that’s how strong the design is
“The case is hand-engraved too,” he adds. “It shows the Lange building and for the first time we honour the two people who laid down the foundation for today’s success, Walter Lange and Gunther Blumlein. Those names are engraved on that and that is something really special.”
He continues, “It is not just the execution. There are a lot of ideas that went into it and from what I’ve heard so far the collectors really appreciate it.”
Another limited edition which will have collectors keen is the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, a flyback chronograph which features Lange’s signature large date indication. This is a movement which boast 729 parts and the transparent case back is an impressive sight, including as it does the one-minute tourbillon.
Only 100 pieces are made of this aesthetically distinctive model which contrasts its white gold case with a pink gold matt-grain finished dial.
Also limited to 100 pieces is the Langematik Perpetual. The maison has used its own proprietary case material called honey gold and notes that the watch will require no manual adjustment of the date display until 2100. Note to grandchildren.
With its emphasis on basing new releases on its historical successes, A Lange & Söhne celebrated another anniversary with an enhanced favourite. It is 10 years since the Zeitwerk family appeared, and now it adds the mechanical digital Zeitwerk Date in white gold.
It is notable for the jumping numerals, a reminder that the brand was a pioneer in such digital features. The date display is a glass ring around the dial and the day’s date lights up in red. It is a new approach for A Lange & Söhne, which has doubled the power reserve to 72 hours.
In an industry which has seen its share of upheavals, Schmid is resolute about not “bending the DNA” of the brand. “I always get the question, do you think you need products for younger people? But does that mean younger people do not appreciate quality? Or craftsmanship? Or using only the best materials? Or making a limited number of watches?”
And the women’s market? “We just produce watches in line with our DNA and know that some of these watches are admired by women as well,’ Schmid says. “That’s fine but we can’t start bending our DNA to make something that is approaching a segment of the market that is not naturally linked to our brand. For us, that is the way forward.”
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- Brand doesn’t try to be trendy, preferring to look to its DNA