A. Lange & Söhne
Phillips Perpetual’s Tribute to A. Lange & Söhne
A. Lange & Söhne
Phillips Perpetual’s Tribute to A. Lange & Söhne
Ever since Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Lange patriarch Adolf Lange, revived the brand in 1990 after the fall of the Soviet Union, A. Lange & Söhne’s star has only continued to rise. In 2004, the horological world sat up and took notice when it split both the second AND the minute with the Double Split Chronograph. Then again in 2009, it shocked and awed with a groundbreaking, never-before-seen digital jumping time display called the Zeitwerk. If that wasn’t enough to draw eyeballs, it followed up 2004’s Double Split by completing the trifecta of splitting the hour as well with the Triple Split in 2018. Evidently, A. Lange & Söhne does not innovate in half measures.
The genesis of all that success can be traced back to two singular points in its relaunch history: the introduction of the Lange 1 in 1994 and the Datograph in 1999. The Lange 1 was part of a collection quartet that reintroduced A. Lange & Söhne to the world in 1994. With its distinctive outsized date, an unconventional offset dial layout that incorporated mathematical concepts such as the Golden Ratio, and the highest level of movement finishing German watchmaking had to offer, the Lange 1 left an indelible mark on the watch world. As revolutionary as that was in 1994, the Lange 1 was launched in a private event to a room packed with journalists.
This exhibition is the perfect opportunity to get up close and observe the little variations in font and dial design that are a part of early Lange references, before those design elements started to become fixed in subsequent references. Curiously, we wonder why the cut-off year of 2008 has been chosen by Phillips when the sea change for the Lange 1 came in 2015 with an updated movement, the L121.1 and for the Datograph in 2012 with the launch of the Datograph Up/Down.
Research references:
Langepedia – The Lange 1 Definitive Guide
A Collected Man – Datograph Collector’s Guide