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A. Lange & Söhne

Yes, that's true in most cases but not all. The difficulty is threefold...

 

First, Lange used to accommodate many special requests (such as the hand color change in Luc's watch). That makes it difficult to determine whether a watch actually left the factory in its current condition, or whether Lange changed a dial, hands, etc., later.

Second, Lange's early reference number system was somewhat random and inconsistent. The Tourbillon "Pour Le Merite" series illustrates this nicely:  Supposedly the only difference between ref. no. 701.001 and 701.002 was the strap color!

Third, Lange had some sort of computer system switchover around the year 2000 -- maybe around the time Richemont stepped in -- and that switchover apparently makes it difficult for Lange to cross-reference information for early watches. If you can provide Lange with a specific caseback number, then I believe they can look up that caseback number and tell you the reference number with certainty. But if you don't have the caseback number -- if you have only a photograph of the dial -- then they often can't tell you the reference number with certainty. They can offer only a best guess, which is usually (but not always) correct. The piece that you referenced, vs. Luc's watch, illustrates this: They are identical in appearance, but one has a warranty card that says 403.025 (it pre-dated the "Pisa" series), and the other has 403.025X because it was part of the "Pisa" series but had a "custom" second hand in rhodium rather than blue steel.

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