A. Lange & Söhne

I think any watch has features that some people will like and others won't...the question is how does the watch make you feel and do you like it?  Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think technically that this is a dud, so I wouldn't worry about that.  I tried on the WG version of this model in a boutique when I got my Lange 1 Moonphase.  The 1815 AC wasn't even on my radar and I just wanted to try it...I was stunned at how much I liked it and how it felt.  It's a very nice piece.

Yeah exactly, it pulls the heart strings. As I said, I loved my IWC 7days, with two sub dials, hence the 1815 Up/down was on my radar for many many years. Then seeing this, I was just taken a back... I get to "replace" that look with an annual calendar version?! Wow! Okay this is something!

I may be biased, especially when fedex gets here tomorrow, but I LOVE it!
For me I love that you can advance all the indicators with a single pusher. That is a game changer. I will wear maybe on weekends. So can wind, click the pusher, get to where we are and move on. No using setting pins all the time. I am not a fan of annual calendar in the sub dial, but langematik perpetual has same writing. I like manual winds, which also is a plus. I believe the annual calendar function is not as popular, but I don't mind changing once a year. I love this moonphase disc with all the stars. I would say the hand indicator date is on the smaller side... there are many calendar watches like this and I don't see the outcry over them. I think because people associate lange with big date... but I love Arabic numerals and train track. All in all can't go wrong.

Can't wait to see you post photos! Congratulations in advance!
I love the hand indicators for everything, it's just beautiful. Small? Sure, but so lovely to look at.

Big fan of this one as well. 

As I have spent a lot of time in the Rolex and Patek bubbles, big dates on Langes are.. well. Just big dates
The manual wind I can agree on, but as you say the counter of a button push is what actually appeals to me as I get a Lange button to push... which is a tactile pleasure.
Yehaagreed, the bigger brother must over shadow it a lot. I do like the Lange 1, but silly me I saw the Glashutte Original Panomatic many years before Lange and always by default think they did it first... of course they didn't, but tell my brain that haha
Zeitwerk is winderful but not for me. Datograph is absolutely grail worthy. But I think in the meantime I should at least enjoy SOME kind of Lange on the way (hopefully) to the Datograph. Although, the way prices are going, probably not.
Yeah I can under stand people with much bigger budgets than I just going for the Perpetual.

...the dial is not up to snuff (don't want to get into a design class here as I've posted in other threads). And a manual-wind movement makes no sense to me on this watch.

I am glad I don't have your "design eye" as it doesn't disturb me in the least.
As I have said before... I see what people mean with the manual , but... button! haha It's such a unique way to interact with a full calendar that I actually enjoy the quirk.

...there are many watches on this forum that are universally loved that I could never live with because of very small things : )

I have a hard time believing Lange would complacently let something technically problematic or deficient (in finishing, materials, etc.) into the wild. Conversely, I’m sure there are rarer, more complicated, and more expensive Lange references out there, but that “ladder” is part of every brand… and, frankly, if you love it, who gives a sh**? 😅 I understand it’s no small decision, but (as I learned first-hand after acquiring a Breguet Tradition in rose last week) pieces like this are just as much, if not more, about the heart as the head (even if it the watch is relatively “cerebral”). Can’t tell you how awesome it is to look down and just smile—every single time, without fail—bc of what’s on my wrist.

Anyway, conjectural rant over… long story short, if you love it, go for it!! Cheers 🍻

Yeah I feel like the price ladder has capture me with the Goldilocks of price/complication, and as you say, if you love it, what can you do?!

Exactly!! Just gotta do what you feel is right, I’m sure you’ll be happy with whatever you pick up 😁 best of luck my friend, looking forward to seeing what you go with!

A 24 h hand on the moonphase, like with most others, is a complication I don'l like at all.

The fact that it is a manual is a big plus for me, as one can enjoy windig it.

It is a lovely watch and that is what counts most.

Great post, Anubis - and a nice photo too (presumably on your wrist?).

Agreed, the moon phase is definitely well executed and a subtle technical detail that is just wonderful. Yes it is my wrist in the photo and I think the presence is perfect, but I do vary my watch sizes from a silly 47mm Panerai, 36mm Oyster Perpetual and a few in between, so 40 at just of 10mm thick is just sublime for me. Hahah right?! I mean Patek did start it, but I feel like Lange improved on it. I have spent some time with a 5205 and 5396 as possible contenders but that 324 base movement is so out dated and the case shape of the 5396 is, well, not exciting. Yes it's a Patek, but I already have an Aquanaut to "scratch" that itch... and it has the same but simple 324 movement. So much like the Irish might say "Scotland might have invented whiskey, but the Irish perfected it" I feel like Lange could say the same about MANY complications, not just the Annual Calendar. Absolutely correct. The watch smile at you, then no worries. As I have been collecting for many many years, this has always driven my purchase. If I don't feel anything, as wonderful as the watch may be on paper, it's just not for me and I would regret it. This AC though. Wow. Also my first not white metal watch, which is somehow exciting as it's such a lovely colour. My boring self, if it were an option, would take the safe route to the white gold, but now seeing the rose, it's just too lovely. I actually looked in my photo reel from when I visited Lange and I actually DID try it in White gold but I had totally forgotten about it. Which to me says it must not have sang to me haha. Thanks for your very thoughtful reply and everyone else as well actually. Not sure why I have left posting here so long but really great responses!

Seeing as it is so simple to change date. Does Lange have a protection built into the mechanics to ensure that if you did push that button at say, 11 pm, it doesn't break anything? I know most watches don't but I was just wondering.

It worked exactly as you say: when the watch ran out of power the seconds hand would always come to a rest at 0 seconds, so that when you started it up again, it would be starting from there. Since this is built off the same base movement as the up/down, I'm not surprised to hear it has that feature too.

It works by linking a stopping bar to a small snail cam. As the power reserve runs down, the snail cam is engaged and gradually draws in a stopping bar to interrupt the second hand at exactly the 0-seconds position at the end of its current revolution. Then, when you begin to wind the watch, the snail cam rapidly makes one full turn and the bar gets further and further away from the seconds wheel, soon releasing the hand to start turning again - then the cam stops at its "fattest" position holding the stopping bar away from the seconds hand and allowing it to continue to turn freely. This mechanism is entirely different to the Sax-0-mat's (and 1815 Tourbillon's) "zero reset" function which works upon pulling the crown out and uses a hammer and heart-shaped cam, just like a chronograph.

for the VERY detailed reply! Love it
Would you know if the date change mechanics are protected from stupidity?