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One of the questions that’s often asked about A. Lange & Söhne watches is why they are so… expensive. It’s a perfectly fair question to wonder about timepieces whose elegance can seem understated and somewhat discreet to the uneducated eye.
The discretion is of course part of the allure of a watch manufacture whose ethos is the kind of quiet confidence that comes with knowing you’re one of the best, and so therefore feeling absolutely no inclination to make a song and dance about it.
You won’t find outlandish colours, experimental materials or anything as untoward as a gimmick on a Lange & Söhne. These are watches made not just for connoisseurs and collectors, but for men and women whose success in life has afforded them the kind of assured confidence that finds a natural affinity for objects of unimpeachable quality and good taste.
The flawless character of each A. Lange & Söhne watch is expressed through myriad aspects — some visible to the eye and some discernible through the other senses such as touch and, in the case of its minute repeaters and striking watches, through sound.
In every case, however, they are the results of a painstaking attention to detail that is lavished upon each watch by human hands. They express the values of a watchmaking company that is steeped in history, yet with a surprisingly modern second chapter.
To circle back to the question about what justifies the considerable price-tag, there’s really no better substitute for understanding the answer than a visit to the place where the watches are designed and made.
This is Glashütte, a small town in Saxony, Germany and the centre of German watchmaking since 1845 when Ferdinand Adolph Lange established his watchmaking business there.
Lange sharpened his technical skills and entrepreneurial vision, becoming convinced that there was huge potential to offer a counterpoint to the more established Swiss watchmaking industry. He made countless improvements and innovations during in his career and many of these have left their legacy in contemporary watchmaking as a whole, as well as in the design and mechanical vocabulary of Lange watches themselves.
The business flourished until the Second World War, when the company’s main production facility was bombed – ironically on the very last night of the war.
A. Lange & Söhne’s new manufactory building in Glashütte, Germany
Soviet occupation followed and A. Lange & Söhne effectively lay dormant until 1989. That year, the Berlin Wall came down, and with it, a 65-year-old man made the first tentative steps to reviving a forgotten family business.
“At that stage, we didn’t have much,” said Walter Lange, the great grandson of Ferdinand Lange. “We didn’t have any watches we could build and sell, we didn’t have any employees, any premises or any machinery. We only had the vision of the best watches in the world that we wanted to build in Glashütte all over again.”
The fittingly named Lange 1 was launched in 1994. Its outsized date (inspired by a Semper Opera clock designed by his great-grandfather) and asymmetric dial design (inspired by old pocket watches) sent ripples of appreciation through the industry.
To today’s eyes, its design is restrained and classical. A statement of intent was established — but the design was just part of it. Although the first series featured a solid caseback, the movement already expressed one of the key pillars of the brand namely a formidable commitment to finishing and artistic crafts.
The three-quarter plate of German silver was another feature hidden from view — solid caseback versions of this watch were discontinued in 1997, allowing a fuller appreciation of the beautiful movement within. Instant collectors’ pieces, the brand has continued to excel with watches that are both aesthetically exceptional and technically at the pinnacle of mechanical watchmaking.
Blued screws are another signature of the company; they are added during the final assembly, their cornflower-blue colour achieved through heating them.
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A. Lange & Söhne’s goal is to engineer timepieces that represent the pinnacle of watchmaking artistry
A Lange & Söhne timepiece will only leave the manufacture where it has been painstakingly put together over months, without a single compromise to quality, following rigorous checks that include the entire movement being assembled and reassembled before it is allowed to leave the manufacture.
Teams of watchmakers pore over fiendishly difficult watches to put together, and it can take months to build one.
For those that appreciate fine watchmaking, a tour around the A. Lange & Söhne manufacture represents a real treat — a deep dive into some of the most rarefied aspects of watchmaking.
The former residence and manufacture building of the Lange family, acquired in 2001, is a beautiful historical building connected via a bridge, to a gleaming modern section, a 5,400-square metre, light-filled contemporary block officially inaugurated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015.
Around 800 are employed by the company around the world, uniting their formidable talents in the production of six distinct product families: the Lange 1 family has, over the years, been joined by Richard Lange, 1815, Zeitwerk, Saxonia and most recently by the Odysseus – the company’s elegant answer to the upscale, everyday sportier category that has dominated much of modern watchmaking in recent years, and launched to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the A. Lange & Söhne rebirth.
A Lange & Söhne timepiece will only leave the manufacture where it has been painstakingly put together over months, without a single compromise to quality
A. Lange & Söhne’s dedication to finishing and decoration is self-evident. There are more than nine distinct departments, each one specialising in a particular aspect of decoration or finishing. Many skills take years to master.
A. Lange & Söhne can rightly consider itself a custodian of rare artistic handicrafts for its employment of artisans and craftspeople. Several kinds of polishing techniques may be applied to parts of a Lange timepiece – even the parts that will never be seen are lavished with attention to detail. It can take up to several days to polish one part.
This kind of level of devotion is why just a few thousand watches are produced annually by A. Lange & Söhne – it simply isn’t possible to rush the pursuit of perfection and things take the time that they require to be completed.
When Walter Lange entreated his colleagues to ‘Never stand still’ he may have been referring in part to retaining a driven approach to the future, but it is clear he also intended it to express an unending commitment to pursuing excellence.