Glashütte watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne unveiled a new trio of 1815 watches, a series of special editions called the Homage to F.A. Lange, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the brand. All three Homage to F.A. Lange 1815 limited editions are in the A. Lange & Sohne-exclusive honey gold and bear specially finished movements and dials. The watches are the 1815 Thin Honeygold, 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold, and 1815 Turbograph Perpetual Honeygold.
From left to right: the 1815 Thin Honeygold, 1815 Rattrapante Honeygold, and 1815 Turbograph Perpetual Honeygold.
The 1815 Thin Honeygold in particular is a new edition to the 1815 collection and we will be looking into it in depth here. It is also a particularly apt homage to F.A. Lange, and is reportedly available now. The other two will debut later this year, and they are available in a set (though they are not packaged nor properly sold that way).
The F.A. in “Homage to F.A. Lange” is a reference to brand founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange, of course, who got the story going 175 years ago. The brand has become an intrepid world traveller since then, with this latest reveal happening in China. Watches and Wonders is underway in Shanghai, and we can only look on while keeping our envy in check. Like A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid, we are only present digitally, given our own specific realities and the general difficulties with international travel. No matter though, we shall press on.
If you scan the A. Lange & Söhne catalogue, you will find references for the Rattrapante and the Turbograph, but not the 1815 Thin, honeygold or otherwise. Powered by the manual calibre L093.1, here given a new granulated finish and a different and more delicate style of hand-engraving on the balance cock, this provides the vital clue to this model’s most direct relative in the current collection — the Saxonia Thin.
There are a few key differences in the watch itself, beyond the movement finishing, between the 1815 Thin Honeygold and the Saxonia Thin. First off, the 1815 collection is partly defined by its use of Arabic numerals, while other collections use Roman numerals or just markers. The dial in the 1815 Thin Honeygold is a two-part enamel affair and of course the hands are in honeygold too. That exquisite enamel dial makes the 1815 Thin Honeygold marginally thicker than its Saxonia cousin (6.3mm versus 5.9mm), although this is admittedly relatively trivial.
Lange & Söhne Product Development Director Anthony de Haas tells us that the aim was never to win any thin accolades. “Our colleagues at Piaget will probably laugh at (the 1815 Thin Honeygold) because one can fit three Piaget ultrathin watches in our watch!” The new 1815 Thin is instead made to be the best sort of tribute to the heritage of A. Lange & Söhne, with the printed railway track scale and the Arabic numerals creating perfect clarity on the enamel dial. For those in the know, this reflects the values of F.A. Lange, as seen in his pocket watches. For the movement, the standard-issue three-quarter bridge, ribbing and the exposed crown and ratchet wheels are all hallmarks of Glashütte watchmaking, as pioneered by F.A. Lange himself.
A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Thin Honeygold Specs and Price
Movement Manual winding calibre L093.1; 72-hour power reserve
Case 38mm in honeygold (limited to 175 pieces); water-resistant to 30m
Strap Brown leather (prong buckle in honeygold)
Price S$49,900
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