A. Lange & Söhne

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SIHH 2010 - A personal review

„Walter Lange Cocktail“ – The Grandsigneur of fine German watch making was holding his speech and watch specialists, press people, collectors, … were listening. Maybe you will recognize familiar people from Singapore, USA, Germany and so on.

Before the “LOG-Collectors Presentation” the only possibility (for me) to have a look at the novelties was “window shopping” outside the booth.

First selection of impressions from the “windows”:

(only a selection)

So many novelties and to be honest my first thought was: Is it too much?

Tuesday the 19^th, finally I could have a look in detail at the “LOG-Collectors Presentation”. It was not only me who was waiting.

Arnd Einhorn and Tino Bobe from ALS did a little presentation for us, with in-depth explanations and lots of watches

Not to forget the Champagne, but as you can probably imagine it was not that important for us.

I didn’t take pictures of them all, but have a look:

Twice Richard Lange „Referenzuhr“, Zeitwerk „Phantom“ , Tourbograph, Lange 1 Tourbillon and 1815 Moonphase (latter in „honey gold“ from the F.A. Lange Homage Collection).

Saxonia Annual Calendar – a very classic and legible annual calendar in a perfect size.

First I thought it looks a bit “boring”, but it gets much better on the wrist:

Even better in reality and the picture can’t show the full beauty - sorry

Should be a big success for ALS, from my POV.

Richard Lange “Referenzuhr” – One more member in the RL family.

It is not my favourite RL, but if I would own the first two it would be a very nice addition to make it a trilogy.

1815 Chronograph , the old versus the new one.

The new one is nice and has some good features like the 60 hours power reserve. Their look is bigger, but in fact it isn’t. Having the choice, I would take the old one. Why? Well, to me it looks more like a chrono and I love the multilayer dial.

Both movements share the same beauty.

Zeitwerk „Phantom“ – probably the biggest surprise as the Zeitwerk never attended SIHH before. The idea for the watch was born during their presentation in Berlin. The Zeitwerk collection has been introduced to the dealers, in the dark. One could say the “Phantom” was born in the dark

ALS developed the additional features together with the Fraunhofer Institute in quite a short time.

All together we tried hard to cover the “luminous effect” and believe me it is even better in reality.

When I saw the whole collection in summer, I was mostly impressed by the version in WG. It was not only an evolution; it was more like a revolution. To me it shows the DNA of Lange, but on top a very special “modern” look. Other brands would call it a concept watch. The latest evolution of this collection even goes one step further. Respect.

Wrist shots from several peoples wrists:

Two icons from one company and who would disagree that this couple would make a great (only two pieces) collection?

But, yes in most of the cases is a but. In this case it is the asked premium compared to their brothers. Even worse it is a limited edition and that means no time to save money :-(

Last but not least, the new 1815 Moonphase.

„Honey Gold“, what a name. I was not impressed from the official press pictures. Ok, I am a “white metal” guy that is true, but in this case?!?

Compared to YG it looks very discreet/soft.

On top it is even harder than any other gold.

The movement shows an uncommon finish, at least for ALS in the last 20 years. Start to like it a lot.

To re-introduce the 1815 Moonphase is a story for its own. The first one is probably one of the most hunted watches from ALS. What does it mean – good or bad news?

My choice is easy, as I would love to own them all – all three.

Only one is available and (more or less) affordable. The price of something is always very personal and relative, of course.

To me it looks good on my wrist …

… and it makes me smile

Do I have to blame Lange once more, because of “destroying” my black dial only collection …?

The “LOG-Collectors Presentation” is always a great pleasure, because of so many passion in one room and even better so many nice watches.

Let me give you a small sample:

Same same, but different, as they say in Thailand

As I mentioned before: Is it too much?

Yes, it was big firework of novelties and everybody has to find his own answer. I like the most of them (if we go in detail) and hope they can show the same “power” in the coming years.

Congratulations to the whole team in Glashütte, for their 165 Anniversary and the shown novelties.

Oliver

Ps: My review doesn’t show them all and doesn’t reflect everything, but as I mentioned it is a personal review.