Me on the left with my proud father, Gunter Blumlein, during my public unveiling in 1994. Collectors wax poetically about his accomplished career. I just miss my dad. Image © A Lange & Sohne.

First of all, I am German, not Swiss. That means that compared to my Franco-Swiss friends, I would say I am better engineered, way more tough, and much more reliable -that much goes without saying. I am also unapologetically proud to be made in Germany. Do you have any idea what it took to make watches bearing the name A Lange & Sohne on the dial, fifty years after my family's company vanished into thin air? How Ferdinand A. Lange built an entire town in Saxony into the watchmaking cradle of Germany, producing the finest watches in the world, only to be bombed and nearly forgotten? The Swiss had it easy. While we were reduced to rubble, they were making perpetual calendar chronographs, honing their traditional skills, catering to our former collectors. Of course, you will say the Swiss helped us resurrect ourselves. After all, Walter Lange convinced Gunter Blumlein, who headed Jeager LeCoultre and IWC in Switzerland, to help him revive us. If you think Blumlein was born in Geneva, or Le Brassus, or Le Sentier, or some Swiss watchmaking town, think again -he was born in Nuremberg. And you might wonder what drove him to move to a little town in Germany and raise an old brand from the dead. Sadly no longer with us, but when I asked him why he took such a massive risk, he said his goal was the same goal the first Lange had, and his sons, and his sons thereafter: to make the finest watches in the world. 

Every component in my movement, visible or not, has been hand-finished to the highest degree possible. Oh, and I may have defined the standards for "Made in Germany", which are, naturally, stricter than those of the ubiquitous "Swiss Made". No big deal. Image © A Lange & Sohne.

And what a risk it was indeed. In 1994, to start making wristwatches in the traditional style of Glashutte watchmaking of the past, at the highest level of technical complexity and finishing, with brand new movements built from the ground up, to stand up against and even outshine their Swiss counterparts, was crazy. To aim at revitalizing an entire town, to teach traditional, forgotten skills to its people, to bring together and forge some of the finest watchmakers in the world, to communicate to collectors the value behind a Lange timepiece, and to create a successful business that would survive for long after he was gone. In just a few years, Blumlein did all the above, and more. And to this day, I don’t think most collectors understand how impossible that seemed before it was accomplished. Perhaps my favorite praise came from Philippe Dufour: “Im sorry to say, Germans have outdone us Swiss. I am still waiting for us to step up.”

Me in my current form, wearing white gold. Image © Time & Tide Watches.

But enough about my history. I bet you want to know who I am. My full name is A Lange & Sohne Lange 1. Sohne is German for “sons”; there exists no Mr Sohne. And I am nothing short of an icon -or so people keep telling me. I will tell you it was not always this way. When I was growing up, some of the Swiss kids made fun of me. They would say I look weird on account of my off-center subdials. But my mother always told me that I am objectively beautiful, because I was made using the ancient Greek golden ratio and I possessed perfect symmetry. On days when she saw I was really sad, she would show me a picture of the Parthenon and remind me than everyone considers it the finest and most beautiful example of architecture ever created. It took a few years for people to realize and get over that. But then they would tell me I look boring, because my dial is too reserved, too German. When I told my mother, she just laughed. “Real beauty doesn’t need to shout. Have them turn you over and try to say that again”. After a while, I learned not to be bothered by jealous peers. As time went on, more and more collectors discovered me and really started to admire me. If they trade me, I usually end up on the wrist of another appreciative soul, and they end up with a younger, slightly more complicated version of me. I can’t be too mad about that. 

I guess my mother had a point. Let me know if you find a more beautiful movement anywhere near my price. Image © Langepedia.

I don’t much care about being an iconic watch. I care about working properly, being reliable, accurate, understated yet beautiful and, most of all, I care about living forever. I hope those lucky enough to have me in their life really do take care of and cherish me. I don’t ask for much, really. Some lubrication and regulation every decade or so, whether back in my factory in Glashutte or by Alkis’ careful hands in New York City. In return, I shall reward my lucky wearer with graceful patina on my German silver plates, a design that ages much more slowly than they do (if at all), and little details of handcraftsmanship that never cease to amaze even the most discerning eyes. You probably know that my balance cock is engraved entirely by hand, as with all A Lange & Sohne watches. But I will let you in on a little secret: there are six people who are in charge of hand engraving at my factory. And each artisan has their unique style of engraving the same pattern. So if you take me back to the factory and ask any one of the six people to tell you who engraved me...they will know exactly who did. Oh, and you can meet them. I promise they are all wonderful.  

I hope I get to meet you one day, or even adorn your wrist. Whether it’s love at first sight or it takes you a while to warm up to me, you will fall in love with me eventually, I guarantee it. 

Yours,

I, The Lange 1