A. Lange & Söhne

ALS - A personal view about the novelties 2011 …

 

Six novelties have been shown, nothing more and nothing less. Watch companies need in general about two years for creating something new. After the big crisis in 2008, we couldn´t probably expect a firework of novelties like we saw the years before and that is more than fine for me.

 

At first, only one more complication is missing in the house of Lange – the Minute Repeater.

 

The “high-level” basis for a wider audience has to be covered, even from the top-notch brands. Lots of simple, thin and less complicated watches could be seen at SIHH – most of them very classic. Lange is no exception and we see the expansion of the Saxonia family.

 

 

Saxonia Thin

 

Let´s start with my personal favourite from the Saxonia family, the Saxonia Thin.





Never have I thought about thin movements and Lange at the same time – so far.

Caliber L093.1; Saxonia Thin; Diameter: 28 millimetres; height: 2.9 millimetres

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For comparison: Caliber L941.1; 1815 (discontinued), Saxonia from 2007 and Saxonia from 2011

 

The idea of a thin movement is something I like a lot, especially when it fits the size of the case and so I look forward to different (white!) metals and dials.

 

Competitors – there are quite a few in the top league and some are even thinner, but most have a tiny movement inside and therefore they are not shown in most of the cases.

 

 

Saxonia Dual Time

 

An elegant, useful and easy to handle business watch - a nice addition to the ALS collection. The size (40mm; 9,1mm) and proportions work very well.

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The “new” central rotor automatic movements – still have to get used to it. Maybe I like the old one too much ;-)

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Caliber L086.2

 

When I saw the Dual Time, two watches came to my mind:

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PP 5134P; 37mm


BP 2660 WG; 38mm

All shown examples are classic and understated, but the Lange looks somehow more “technical” to me – good or bad. Of course there are more options in the market, but I just wanted to mention the first which came to my mind.

 

The two pushers’ solution has been available before and seems to be convenient for frequent (business) travellers. The look of the Lange pushers remind me about the 1815 Kalenderwoche for Huber, just on the other side of the case, and a “poor man´s” Chronograph came to my mind when I handled that watch some years ago. It is much better on the left side, but still a similar thought – sorry. The watches I saw at the fair have been prototypes without working movement, but I asked about the feeling of the pushers. What I had in mind were the superb pushers of the Chronographs from Lange. Was told it will be the same kind of smooth feeling. Promising!

 

Will it sell? My prediction is yes, because as I mentioned before it is an elegant, useful and easy to handle business watch.

 

 

Saxonia and Saxonia Automatic

 

Saxonia - Diameter: 37.0 millimetres; height: 7.8 millimetres; YG, WG and RG

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Saxonia Automatic - Diameter: 38.5 millimetres; height: 7.8 millimetres; WG and RG

Both watches have a very good size for 24hours/5days and recent taste.

 

 

Retrospect of the Saxonia family :

1. Saxonia, manually wound, 33,9mm, caliber L941.3
2. Saxonia, automatic, 37mm, caliber L921.4 SAX-O-MAT with Zero-Reset
3. Saxonia, manual winding, 37mm, caliber L941.1
   (Movement from discontinued first 1815)
4. Grand Saxonia, automatic, 40mm, caliber L921.2 SAX-O-MAT with Zero-Reset
5. Saxonia Automatic, automatic, 38,5mm, caliber L086.1
6. Saxonia, manual winding, 37mm, caliber L941.1
   (Movement from discontinued first 1815)

 

The first one was introduced in 1994 (first collection!), number two, three and four show major changes and have been introduced in 2007. The new ones (number five and six) show subtle design modifications and the Automatic got a new movement. From my point of view the design changes are very positive, but I am still not sure about the new automatic movement. The SAX-O-MAT with Zero-Reset was just too nice.

 

Competitors – there are quite a few (PP, VC, JLC, Piaget …), but at the end of the day a Lange is a Lange and there is no reason to be shy.

 

 

Zeitwerk Striking Time

 

THE icon of the last century of watchmaking was the Lange 1 for me and the Zeitwerk is probably the icon of the current century, when we talk about a new approach in showing the time. When presented in 2009 the “basic” Zeitwerk was a huge surprise and I expected to see more complicated versions like we have seen from the Lange 1. The first complication now is the Zeitwerk Striking Time, which is a first step in a new dimension for Lange. It is not a Minute Repeater, not a Grande Sonnerie, but hey 2011 is not THE year for big complications like I mentioned above – at least so far.

Anyway, does it look good? Yes, without hesitations. The two hammers and gongs fit perfectly in the layout of the Zeitwerk.

 

As important as is the look is the sound. What I can say from what I heard so far - a pleasing sounding and very promising for what will be coming, for sure.

Chiming mechanism                               L043.2                                      L043.1

The movements caliber L043.2 (Striking hour) and the L043.1 look very similar and far left is the chiming mechanism shown. Lange refers to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 with its four-note fanfare opening and indeed the watch strikes four times in one hour – ding, ding, ding, dong (all fifteen minutes and the “lower pitch” at the full hour).

The watch is 44,2mm and feels too big on my 6.5” wrist, but even the “basic” Zeitwerk (41,9mm) is not a small watch. Given bigger wrists, I would be more than proud to see the first step in to a new dimension (for ALS) on my wrist. It is not a 24/7 watch and the features shown are more on the “super cool” side than being useful. Just toys for the boys and most of us love toys, don´t we?

 

Competitors – there are none, from my point of view. Well, some will say isn´t there an one striking hour or so from Chopard. Yes, but that one plays in a different league. Handled and listened to three different pieces and they never pleased me. If we just talk about toys, we will find lots of competitors, but that is another story …

 

Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM

 

The most complicated ALS watch at the SIHH is the Richard Lange Tourbillon PLM. It is inspired from the past and we have seen all the complications before, but not in one watch and not in that special way. To expand the RL family is something I like a lot and the latest member of the family is (once more) a very nice one.

Gentlemen playing …

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Not only too big for my wrist, for my pocket as well :-(

That is an outstanding movement and just so beautiful. It shows even more details than the predecessors.

RL family :

Recently I wrote/posted something about the RL family:

 

“…All three current family members share the same roots, the painstaking execution of all components, the finishing touches and have the same case diameter. Apart of this, there are lots of differences - the complexity of the movements, the dials, the prices and so on. …”

 

Now there are four members and only one is bigger: 41,9mm versus 40,5mm.

 

The understated charm of the RL family would have asked for a closed dial, without showing the Tourbillon. The one on the far left of the next picture was created with Photoshop, just to give you an idea.

Is it only me? Maybe and even I can find several pros why it is nice like it is. Do we need moving parts on a dial? In general I would say, no. Is it nice to look at and maybe for some the cherry on the cake? Yes.

 

The latest member of the RL family is not my top favourite out of the four, but it is a great addition with lots of gorgeous details/solutions. In a perfect world I could imagine to buy all four. At least dreaming is possible.

 

 

Personal conclusion after the fair :

 

Did I have a hard time to sleep after seeing the novelties? Just to be honest with you, no. But none of the novelties do disappoint me, they make sense for Lange and they leave lots of possibilities for further novelties in the future. The further expansion of the 1815 family, an understated Minute Repeater as a fifth member of the RL family … - to mention only a few.

 

 

Note :

 

Once more it was a real pleasure to visit the ALS booth, to meet the people from ALS and not to forget the spirit & passion of employees and members of the Lange Owners Group. Big thanks to anybody who organized and/or participated.

 

Oliver

This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-01-25 13:46:51 This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-01-31 11:31:31