It was a mechanism which had been used on highly accurate pocket watches in the past, but this was the first time it had been fitted on something as small as a wristwatch and it gave the Dato faultless precision.īut as remarkable as the L951.1 was technically, it was just as striking visually. The result comprised some 405 separate parts, including a snail cam fastened to the chronograph’s minute hand which pushed it forward at the exact instant the sweeping chrono hand passed the zero, rather than as on a standard setup where the counter would start to move before the minute completely elapsed. The caliber, complete with its flyback, was actually developed after the dial had been composed, meaning the mechanism had to be designed around the unorthodox placement of the totalizers and the size of the date complication. Inside, the magnificent L951.1 was the first truly high-end chronograph movement to be made in-house in decades. The fact that Lange had also managed to find room for both a minute track and a tachymeter scale around the perimeter without leaving it a cluttered mess only made the whole thing more impressive. With the patented outsize date display at the top and the pair of chrono counters shifted from their traditional positions at the 3 and 9 o’clock to sit lower on the dial, the elements formed an equilateral triangle which lent the Dato an absolutely perfect balance seen nowhere else. 403.035, a platinum 39mm piece with black dial and silver sub dials.ĭescribed by one respected watch journalist, quite rightly, as ‘pure sex’ when it debuted at the 1999 Baselworld show, onlookers were taken aback firstly by the astonishing looks and then by what was going on underneath. The original, and to many, quintessential Datograph was the ref. The Datograph made its debut in 1999 and, incredibly, the company moved back into its prewar building in Glashütte, following 10-years of renovations, in 2001. Within just three years, the reborn A Lange & Söhne filed its initial patent (the oversize date complication) and by 1994 they had unveiled their first new watches in four decades to an enthusiastic and enchanted audience. The brand started their triumphant return in 1989 as the Wall fell, headed up by Walter Lange, the great-grandson of original founder, Adolphe Lange. But by 1951 the Lange name had disappeared from their watch’s dials and wouldn’t be seen again for more than 40-years. With their manufacturing plant destroyed by Allied bombing on the very last day of the war in Europe, 8 th May 1945, the company limped on as it was taken over by the conquering Soviet powers following the building of the Berlin Wall in 1948. That was the point at which their location, in the now-recognized home of German watchmaking, Glashütte in the state of Saxony, left them on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain when the Axis powers were finally defeated.
#LANGE DATAGRAPH BACK SERIES#
The first stretches from its formation in the middle of the 19 th century and charts their rise to horology’s loftiest perch through a series of brilliant innovations and stunning pocket watches, and culminates just after the Second World War.
It is a brand with very much a two-part history. Lange & Söhne itself you will know there is practically no other non-Swiss manufacture held in as high regard in the industry.
So, with that out of the way, let’s dive in. This is, of course, a personal opinion, and I’m going to try my best to get through this review with as little hyperbole as possible. Simply put, I regard these watches as being the closest thing to flawless as exists at the moment. The Datograph, affectionately known as the Dato, has no weaker areas as far as I’m concerned, with the obvious exception of my ability to afford one. I spend my life studying and analyzing some truly spectacular timepieces and I do my best to remain objective, picking out both the strongest elements on each, while also being careful to any highlight weaker areas. Lange & Söhne Datograph collection for years, simply because it contains just about my favorite watches in the world.įor someone in my line of work, that is quite the claim. Let’s start this with a quick confession I have been dying to write about the A.
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