The A. Lange & Söhne Grand Lange 1 has been an important collection in A. Lange & Söhne’s catalog since 2003, and it was fitted with its own movement from 2012. For 2022, the company presents a redesigned Grand Lange 1 — or rather, a refinement of the original — for greater elegance. Even by refinement, the change is most subtle, and one could miss it, were it not for that the watch looks and feels a shade more svelte. Indeed, it is a testament to the fundamental tidiness of the A. Lange & Söhne Grand Lange 1 dial that Lange & Söhne judged it best to leave that alone. Instead, it shaved the case height from 8.8mm to 8.2mm; the case diameter remains at 41mm.
The movement remains the manual-winding caliber L095.1, visible through the sapphire crystal caseback. Besides tweaking the case height, Lange & Söhne has also introduced a gray dial with granular texture. The new Grand Lange 1 is available in pink gold case with red-brown leather strap, or white gold case with black leather strap.
Classically styled with enamel dial and platinum case, the Richard Lange Minute Repeater is entirely focused on being the ultimate minute repeater, sans other complications. By activating the slide integrated into the left side of the case, the orchestrated action of the mirror-polished hammers as they strike out the time on the two manually-bent gongs wrapped around the movement, can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback, along with the elaborate hand finishing of the new caliber L122.1 manual-winding movement.
To achieve a clear, resonant sound, the gongs are hand-tuned to complement the platinum case material. The hammers, meanwhile, are optimized on a host of parameters such as material, shape, size, weight and hardness. According to Lange & Söhne, every minute repeater is carefully harmonized by a Lange master watchmaker, requiring multiple rounds of reassembly and testing.
The white enamel dial has a solid-gold core and is crafted in-house, with printed inscriptions burned into the surface. At 39mm in diameter and a discreet 9.7mm case height, the Richard Lange Minute Repeater is paired with a black, hand-stitched leather strap with platinum buckle. In a limited edition of 50 pieces.
Formerly available in stainless steel or white gold, the latest version of Lange & Sohne’s sports watch comes in a sleek titanium case, paired with a titanium bracelet with fine adjustment. The new model not only gets a new ice blue dial color, but the guilloché motif of the dial is also unique to this particular model, adding depth and interest to the dial. Day and date are displayed legibly with large display windows and are easily adjustable via the shaped buttons on the side, while time reading is made that much easier with excellent contrast between the ice-blue dial and the hands and markers in polished white gold with luminous paint.
A. Lange & Söhne Grand Lange 1 Titanium being 43 percent lighter than steel and with high resistance to corrosion, makes for a robust timepiece that also bears Lange & Söhne’s characteristic finesse and elegance, not least from the interplay of polished, matte and brushed finishes throughout case and bracelet. Beating within is the elaborately hand-finished Datomatic movement, featuring a balance bridge for added resilience and platinum winding mass for winding efficiency. The Odysseus is optimally proportioned at 40.5mm in diameter with a case height of 11.1mm, and is water resistant to 120 meters.
