My Lange 1

It is number one. 101.021.

I have reached a saturation point with watches where the idea of owning a particular watch sometimes crosses my mind, but generally what I already own has been very satisfying. Besides that, by and large I can’t afford the stuff I would really like to own. I haven’t added a piece that would really qualify as “fine” until now. I decided that should change and it should be a watch I have long admired, the Lange 1. Especially after visiting the town of Glashutte and seeing the ALS manufacture, I became even more “sold” on the brand.

There are craftspeople making magnificent watches and the times have been great to them. I think the limelight has been on these independents in collector circles to the extent that some have forgotten why it was once the reverse and you had to buy the brand.

The strength of a brand is something that is often factored into a watch purchase. You want service to be possible, you want the affiliation, you want to know your money is relatively secure. I think a well built brand also deserves recognition for what is entailed with that status. I decided my first fine watch should be from a great brand. I am particularly compelled by the Lange story, between the acumen of Gunther Blumlein to the late-in-life success of Walter Lange, it is just naturally magnetic.

Pictured on drawings from F.A. Lange 

The Lange 1 has been a piece I have admired for a very long time. Going on the journey of actually purchasing the watch only convinced me further that the Lange 1 was the best “high horology” watch that could be reasonably attained. The one I purchased is one of the earliest Lange 1’s with an open caseback, the very first Lange 1s being closed (with the coveted Breguet overcoil). Originally sold in Germany, it was within the first 7,000 watches produced. That doesn’t sound like a small number and it doesn’t really matter, but after 30 years of producing 5k watches a year, there are many more than 7,000 ALS watches in existence now and I think there is a charm to having one from when the company was younger, scrappier, and was working hard to create new designs and stand out.

What really has made the Lange 1 the icon it is: consistency and deliberate design. Many of the other unusual watches from the late 90s have been forgotten. Of course there are plenty of dealers dealing the Neo-vintage, but it is not a significant figure in the market. There is a certain war of attrition that persists in the watch world whether it be the best renowned dealers simply being the ones who can keep their word and outlast the Mayflies, or if it is as a brand selling new watches. Historically, watches that have evolved slowly have really done well and remained popular. Plenty of examples exist and just as you might have immediately thought of the Submariner when reading the above description, I think of the Lange 1.

What was once an unknown quantity is now 30 years old and basically the same as when it first debuted. For this reason, it is still going strong.

Look at that dial for 5 minutes. That act is its own type of meditation. What you see is an absolute masterclass in proportion of negative and occupied space.

Some might prefer the printed numerals found on a few other references and there is indeed a charming quality to those dials but I am a sucker for applied numerals in many cases. The Lange 1 is one. I think they draw the eye and separate the communicated information from the printed text.

The movement of the hands around their respective regions is delightful. Some watches look great with hands at 10:10 but when you wear it and see the watch with hands telling time, there can be some disappointment when the balance seems to have gone. Not an occurrence you need worry about with the Lange 1. I intentionally didn’t prevent the hands moving for these photos.

Yellow Gold

This warm metal does seem to be back in style, where white metal was once the only way to buy, yellow has been out of production or simply not focused on by many manufactures, it has become relatively rare. I think the glow of this medallion on my wrist is one of the things I love most about the watch. The 1 works extremely well in white metals too, but I love the warmth. I have other steel watches and I feel like the warmth adds to the special feeling of this watch. “Gold is too flashy” ok, well you don’t have to wear it every day. It isn’t on a bracelet either. I enjoy it.

I am probably just trying to convince myself of my purchase but I think there is a real argument to be made that the Lange 1 is a truly excellent example of industrial design, and is something of a sculpture-on-the wrist that you can bring anywhere.