A. Lange & Söhne
Pre-SIHH: A. Lange & Söhne — 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”
A. Lange & Söhne
Pre-SIHH: A. Lange & Söhne — 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”
The result of his patience and subsequent hard work against the many early obstacles is vividly celebrated today as the modern A Lange & Söhne that we all love, a brand that produces sublime watches founded on the same philosophy of the brand’s founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange, the great grandfather of Walter Lange.
With Walter Lange’s passing still fresh in our minds, it is fitting that A. Lange & Söhne would choose to remember the great man with a new watch that comes as a tribute to his memory. That watch, the 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” comes with a rarely seen complication and in 3 variations of case material as well as a piece unique variation that I will get to later on in this article.
The 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” comes with the trademark design features of the 1815 line, with Arabic numerals on the dial. Yet even in keeping with the classical presentation we’ve come to expect from this collection, the watch comes with a complication that is in some ways, quite unexpected.
The pusher at the 2 o’clock position is the additional surprise, because it allows the large central seconds hand to be immobilized and started at will, essentially turning the watch into a 60 second chronograph. Of course it is not a full chronograph as there is no second pusher to reset the large seconds hand to zero, but it is still useful all the same, and keeps to the essential purpose of the dead beat seconds complication; accuracy in reading time to a resolution of one second.
Also being presented on the same day is a special version of the watch that comes in a case material that one does not normally associate with A Lange & Söhne: stainless steel. Indeed, while it is well known that the brand only produces watches in precious metals, it is not so well known that a very small number of Lange watches have been produced in stainless steel.
These rare watches have not been officially acknowledged by the brand and it is rumored that about 20 pieces have ever been made, primarily Lange 1’s with silver dial and blue hands or another variation with a black dial. These stainless steel Lange’s have been the stuff of legend, inflaming the auction market whenever they are offered. In fact a silver dial with blue hands Lange 1 fetched $154,000 when it was offered at Christies in 2013, with a Double-Split (the only known stainless steel piece in existence) fetching $501,000 in the same year.
Interestingly, this is a watch that one cannot buy outright; instead it will be auctioned off in 2018, with the proceeds going towards a charitable purpose, a gesture that Walter Lange himself, a man noted for his philanthropy, would have approved of.