A. LANGE & SÖHNE
Lange 1 ref. 101.030
On October 24th, 1994 Walter Lange and his partner Günter Blümlein resuscitated the emblematic german brand created by Walter’s great-grandfather in the 19th century. They launched 4 strong models: the elegant Saxonia, the rectangular Arkade, the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite (« for the merit » in French) and the pioneering Lange 1.
The Lange 1 has quickly become an iconic chic yet sporty model. Its design combines heritage and craft. It particularly masters the asymmetry of the dial like non overlapping constellations in a fairly empty space. Yet by construction the center of each section form the corners of an isocel triangle contributing to assemble an obvious balanced set. A lot of the watch character emanates from the oversized date window directly inspired from the Five-Minute Clock of the Semper Opera House in the city of Dresden. The variation of the Lange 1 proposed here is our favorite combination: a monochromatic strong grey dial encased in white gold adorned with white gold index and hands. It is also one of the least produced and seldom seen.
Dial & case: featuring a texture in between matte and satin finish the sublim grey dial goes from dark to light grey depending how it catches the light. Subdials are slightly recessed intensifying the grey color change effect. Not easy to describe. The eye impact is all the most pleasing.
Size: perfectly sized to a 38.5mm diameter. Thickness = 10.1mm. Intra lugs 20mm.
Bracelet: Original A.Lange & Söhne black leather with the white gold buckle engraved « LANGE ». If anything this is not the best part of the watch and we strongly recommend that you change for a light grey grained or saffiano leather strap.
Movement: superb hand finished manual winding calibre L901.0. 72h power reserved indicated in german on the dial.
Box & papers: A. Lange & Söhne service box. We have estimated from the serial number that this watch was from circa 2003/2004.
Rare and extremely desirable with this configuration. The level of finishing is clearly positioning the early Lange 1 among the best value for money of the neo-vintage horological landscape.
