A. Lange & Söhne’s storied history dates back to 1845, when Ferdinand A. Lange established his workshop in the German town of Glashütte. One of Lange’s early innovations was the three-quarter plate, a superlatively stable structure that remains a fixture of the brand’s movements today. He was the first watchmaker to adopt the metric system and an early advocate for dividing labor, so that specialists could hone their skills on individual components. The manufacture’s exceptional pocket-watches were prized by Europe’s elite, including Emperor Wilhelm II and the Russian imperial family. Lange’s sons continued to maintain the brand’s excellence until World War II unleashed chaos. On the very last day of the war, A. Lange & Söhne’s workshops were destroyed in a bomb raid. In the following years, the Lange family were expropriated and the company was possessed by the East German state. 100 years after it was founded, the brand ostensibly vanished. It was not until 1990 that, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, that Ferdinand Lange’s great-grandson was able to return to Glashütte and revive the legendary family business. The newly invigorated A. Lange & Söhne debuted its first creations in 1994, beginning with the now-iconic Lange 1. Drawing inspiration from the brand’s historic pocket-watches, the Lange 1 exemplifies an A. Lange & Söhne signature: superior legibility. Thanks to the decentralized displays on the dial and an oversized date inspired by Dresden’s Semper Opera House (which Ferdinand Lange worked on as a watchmaking apprentice), the watch is elegantly efficient. Other coveted models include the Zeitwerk, the first mechanical timepiece with a jumping numeric time display, and the Grand Complication, which boasts chronograph, perpetual calendar, moon phase and minute-repeater functions.

A. Lange & Söhne

Important Watches

A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph, Reference 401.026 A white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, Circa 2009 Dial: silvered Calibre: cal. L951.0 mechanical, 34 jewels Movement number: 45'916 Case: 18k white gold, sapphire crystal display back secured by 6 screws Case number: 161'101 Closure: black A. Lange & Söhne alligator strap and 18k white gold buckle Size: 39 mm diameter Signed: case, dial and movement Accessories: A. Lange & Söhne Garantie, instruction manual and presentation box A sleek and highly regarded model within A. Lange & Söhne's catalogue, the present 1815 Chronograph belongs to the coveted first generation of the reference, identifiable by its distinctive "m"-shaped hash marks on the minute track and pulsometer scale. Introduced in 2004 as a more classical and restrained alternative to the Datograph, it retains the celebrated calibre L951.0, widely regarded as one of the finest manually wound chronograph movements ever produced.

View 1 of Lot 2421: 1815 Chronograph, Reference 401.026 | A white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, Circa 2009

1815 chronograph, reference 401.026 | a white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, circa 2009

A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph, Reference 414.028 A white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, Circa 2018 Dial: black Calibre: cal. L951.5 mechanical, 34 jewels Movement number: 164'987 Case: 18k white gold, sapphire crystal display back secured by 6 screws Case number: 269'089 Closure: black A. Lange & Söhne alligator strap and 18k white gold buckle Size: 39.5 mm diameter Signed: case, dial and movement Accessories: A. Lange & Söhne Guarantee Seal, instruction manual and presentation box Perhaps no brand epitomizes German precision timekeeping more than A. Lange & Söhne. Part of its coveted 1815 collection, the present lot is part of the third generation that brought back the historically beloved pulsometer scale. The matte black finish on the dial contrasts superbly with the silver indices and sunken subdials, allowing for greater legibility and a nod to the brand's historical ties to medical watches. The true brilliance of this watch lies in its perfectly balanced 39.5 mm 18k white gold case. When Günter Blümlein and Walter Lange re-founded A. Lange & Söhne in 1994, Blümlein insisted on delivering the ‘feeling of closing a Mercedes’ door for the watches. Thus, staying true to the spirit of precise German engineering, the case is constructed with a three-step case design that features an alternative finishing that strikes a precise symmetry between traditional elements and a modern silhouette. When worn, it interacts with the surrounding light in a way that no other watch case can match.

View 1 of Lot 2572: 1815 Chronograph, Reference 414.028 | A white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, Circa 2018

1815 chronograph, reference 414.028 | a white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch, circa 2018

Includes<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/watches/watch/a-lange-&amp;-sohne" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;A. Lange &amp; Söhne</a>&nbsp;box, papers, and corrector setting tool.

1815 Rattrapante (Reference 421.025FE). A 41.9mm platinum manual wind wristwatch with date, day, month, chronograph, moon phase, and perpetual calendar. 2015

Includes<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/watches/watch/a-lange-&amp;-sohne" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;A. Lange &amp; Söhne</a>&nbsp;box, papers and booklet with outer folder. No stylus setting tool included.

1815 Perpetual Calendar Rattrapante (Reference 421.032FE). A 41.9mm rose gold manual wind wristwatch with moon phase, power reserve, split-seconds chronograph, and perpetual calendar. 2017

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