A. Lange & Söhne

amanico
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Lange makes really nice watches ( My Report )

Here's my report on the visit we made to the Lange Stand at the SIHH...

First of all, I want to warmly thank Julie Pomel and Gaetan for their kind welcome and their patience and enthusiasm, it was a pleasure to meet you, and to know you.

It may appear a bit naive to say that Lange makes really nice watches, but, even if I observe for 10 years now this Manufacture and the watches they present, I have to confess that I was a bit disappointed these 3 or 4 last years...
At the beginning of their " renaissance" Lange presented some very strong, and beautiful watches..The Lange 1, the 1815 moonphase, the Langematik Anniversary, the Datograph, the Tourbillon " Pour le mérite" are indeed some iconic watches.I' even say, one of the nicest watches in the world.

During these 3 or 4 last years, I was less impressed, less in love with this brand, even if I admit that this feeling made me take some distance for the brand.

So, this year, I decided to go to their stand, and to have a deeper look on their watches, on their production, to make it clear in my mind.

And I was surprised, yes, really surprised, to see that even if their new watches are less strong than their first one, there are some treasure, pure treasures here.

As the happy owner of a Datograph, I was pleased to see again in production the perpetual calendar...10 years old, maybe, but a timeless piece!

A magnificient, perfectly balanced dial , very legible calendar...0 Fault!



And what to say about the movement, except that this is a pure masterpiece!







THen Julie and Gaetan presented me an old friend, the Lange Tourbillon, 8 or 9 years old...At this time, I was dreaming of it like a child ordering his presents at Xmas Time...

Wowowow, this is a beautiful piece, a charismatic time keeper, one of the nicest Tourbillon ever made...I prefer it to the Tourbograph, more tortured, IMO...





Compared to the Tourbograph...

Really nice, too, but I prefer the simplicity, the discretion nand the strong charism of the Lange Tourbillon.





A Closer shot of the movement:



In the same idea, I'm more in love with the Datograph than with the Double Split which I find too thick, too big for a Lange. For me, a Lange is the summum of the class in horology, it doesn't have to be so big and thick, IMHO, and the Dato corresponds more to the idea I have of Lange, even if the DS is a nice watch, of course...

Here, on Jerome's wrist while he was calculating the time he'll have to run till the exit with this watch on his wrist..LOL



BTW, Jerome, where did you put your hand? LOLOL

And here, a macro of the most spectacular piece of the DS..The movement:



Big watches? Here's the biggest Lange, the 31 days.

46 mm, very thick, one of the thicker I know in the production.

This 31 days is problematic for me. Not only by its size, but also by its esthetic...

The Small second is ...very small, the indicator of the Power Reserve is very big, The look of the dial is a bit disproportionned, unbalanced, IMO.



The movement is spectacular, even if there are nicer things in the Lange range:



A pity, because I had a lot of pleasure to wear it, it was surprising for me, as I thought that this watch was really unwearable..I was wrong!



Now, some words about THE new Lange...



Did you guess?
This is the new Cabaret Tourbillon!
I took a pic of Julie through the Tourbillon cage.

Here are some more conventionnal pics.







The perfection in terms of finish is here, without doubts...But esthetically, I have a problem with the 2 too small counters, much too small, and the big date...There's something disturbing, in terms of design, for me.
Just a big date, ot just 2 lighty bigger counters, and the watch would be perfect, as this is a great idea to put a tourbillon in a Cabaret, even if the case is bigger, which is not a problem.
And an original tourbillon, as it's equipped with a system of stop second!

As always, the movement is perfectly finished...



I had a quick look on the Dato PC, not convinced at all, as I don't appreciate at all to see in the same watch two iconic watches, the Dato, and the Lange PC.
The dial is way too busy for me, and the watch will never take the place of these 2 legends, IMHO...

Just a macro of the dial, for the demonstration...



In terms of legibility, this is not a reference...

Now, a watch I absolutely underated when it was launched, and I was wrong...The Lange World Time.

This is a big watch, of course, but a very elegant, and quite discrete one, in platinum.Maybe I was too obsessed by the Patek WT to see it in its real value?
But our 2 hosts gave us the chance to see it again, and I have to say that this is indeed a great watch, appealing, sexy, class, discrete, well, la lot of qualities!
the design is perfect, the movement is nicely made...
Maybe, if I still have some money, I'll go on it quite soon.

A nice surprise!









I wore it for a while, and even on the wrist, the surprise was good!

Now some classic watches...

A nice alternative to the PP and JLC, or VC is indeed the Richard Lange...Nice, simple, sophisitcated...An interesting dressy watch.
Jerome fell in love with.



As for the Lange 1...I had the opportunity to see the Lange one, in the LE version for Hausmann, and a luminous model, that was worn by Julie , a nd to compare it to the grande lange One...

For me, and it's only my peronnal point of view, the Lange one, or Grande Lange one, is the pure Lange ADN, with its typical dial...
I have a light preference for the Lange One, as this model doesn't have mixed circles, but independant for the hour and the small second, which I find nicer...

Anyway, these are great watches, timeless, classic, quite iconic!

Julie's Lange one..On my wrist:

In this version, even a bit sporty...



For the Hausmann version, please click here:

alang.watchprosite.com

The new Grande Lange One:





In colored gold...



And a pic of the case back, very Lange, of course...Pure DNA!



Now, to end this long post...The winner...
And I can tell you that it was not a surprise, but a real and big shock for me...
As you know, I don't appreciate a lot colored gold, and I didn't pay attention to this watch before...
It was a pure revelation for me, perfectly the idea I have about Lange...
The Winner is...The Cabaret in Rose gold!!!!!!!!!!!

This watch is love at first sight, a " Coup de foudre" that I will place on the top of my wish list.

Simplicity, class, elegance, beautiful designed and finished...Wwowowow...
Hommage and respect..And pics!













On Anthony's Wrist...

Just perfect!



Well, Once again, thanks for all this time spent with us, Julie and Gaetan...
You made me rediscover, through this trip in horology and time this magnificient brand.
Wish for you and Lange a bright future, my friends.
Best.
Nicolas



This message has been edited by amanico on 2008-04-12 08:51:32 This message has been edited by Dje on 2008-04-17 22:46:23