Breaking: The Little Lange 1 “25th Anniversary”, not so little anymore

Ever since CEO of A. Lange & Söhne Wilhelm Schmid and technical director Anthony de Haas made the big announcement that every month on the 25th, the brand would be dropping a new timepiece to commemorate its 25th anniversary, we’ve set a reminder each month to keep our eyes peeled for the next release.

And right on time, this month the Lange 1’s younger sibling, the Little Lange 1, is getting the silver jubilee treatment. In January, the brand announced the Lange 1 “25th Anniversary” edition at SIHH, and in February the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase. It’s apt that the watch is released in March, which corresponds with Women’s History Month in the USA and International Women’s Day on March 8.

Quick recap: the Little Lange 1 was born in 1998, so it’s now a 21-year-old lady and incredibly poised and confident. The Little Lange 1 is a compact timepiece at 36.8mm around, with a beautiful guillochéd dial and in three shades — white gold with an anthracite dial, white gold with a burgundy dial and rose gold with a chocolate dial.

Over the years, Lange has refreshed the watch with some changes to distinguish it from its pre-eminent sibling. That includes adding diamonds and using a mother-of-pearl dial on past editions, such as the 2014 Little Lange 1 “Soiree” and 2015 Little Lange 1 models. There’s also been changes in the movement powering the watch, from the L901.4 calibre with 72 hour power reserve, to the L121.1, the 368-part, 3 Hz movement that powers both the Lange 1 and Little Lange 1 today.

Since the traditional 25th anniversary gift is silver, the brand’s special editions for this year are all with a silver dial with blue printed markers and details on the dial. But one special difference between this Little Lange 1 and her 2018 predecessors is the absence of guillochage on the dial, rendering the watch a true sibling to the Lange 1. It’s after all an era when women’s equality is no longer just a catchphrase. (Interestingly, it’s closer in style to the original Little Lange 1 from 1998, which was really a shrunk down version of the Lange 1.)

We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next on the Lange 1 list that will be given the anniversarial touch, but for now, we’ll have to satisfy ourselves with longing glances at our screens and enjoying the 2018 edition of the Little Lange 1 on our wrists. We’re certainly partial to the white gold model with grey guillochéd dial.