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Lot Essay
Consigned by its original owner, a private collector, fresh to the market and preserved in excellent overall condition, the present Lange 1 is one of the exceedingly few examples of this celebrated model in stainless steel to appear in public to date.
The Lange 1 is undeniably A. Lange & Söhne's most legendary wristwatch ever made, its myth more alive than ever before since, officially, the celebrated Glashütte watch manufacture never cased any of their wristwatches in stainless steel but exclusively in precious metals. Its exclusiveness is a logical consequence of the latter paired with the fact that in nearly twenty years just a handful of these steel watches have been seen or offered for sale in public.
In fact, according to our research, the present Lange 1 is only the fifth example of this model in stainless steel with silvered dial appearing at auction and at no stage A. Lange & Söhne revealed the precise number of this series produced. The firm however confirms that all Lange 1 models cased in stainless steel are listed under reference 101.026 and that they are fitted with the celebrated calibre L901.0.
A.Lange & Söhne furthermore states that during the firm's earliest year a "very small number of examples" were made following requests from important clients or retailers. The present example was sold through Rüschenbeck in Germany in 1998. Some of the other examples known were retailed in Italy.
Introduced in 1994, the Lange 1 is the first Lange watch of the new era and represents a culmination of what connoisseurs of fine watches associate with the legendary "A. Lange & Söhne" heritage. The patented, oversized date demonstrates how tradition and ingenuity can come together in style. This useful feature, inspired by the digital clock in Dresden's Semper Opera, improves the legibility of the date by about three times in comparison with conventional displays. The silvered dial features the characteristic off-centre hour, minute, second and power reserve indications.
The movement is Lange's hand-wound calibre L901.0, the three quarter plate made of untreated German silver and decorated with Glashütte ribbing. The twin mainspring barrels provide a power reserve of three days when fully wound. It furthermore features a stop second mechanism activated when the crown is pulled out and a patented twin-disc mechanism for the display of the oversized date.
The Lange 1 is undeniably A. Lange & Söhne's most legendary wristwatch ever made, its myth more alive than ever before since, officially, the celebrated Glashütte watch manufacture never cased any of their wristwatches in stainless steel but exclusively in precious metals. Its exclusiveness is a logical consequence of the latter paired with the fact that in nearly twenty years just a handful of these steel watches have been seen or offered for sale in public.
In fact, according to our research, the present Lange 1 is only the fifth example of this model in stainless steel with silvered dial appearing at auction and at no stage A. Lange & Söhne revealed the precise number of this series produced. The firm however confirms that all Lange 1 models cased in stainless steel are listed under reference 101.026 and that they are fitted with the celebrated calibre L901.0.
A.Lange & Söhne furthermore states that during the firm's earliest year a "very small number of examples" were made following requests from important clients or retailers. The present example was sold through Rüschenbeck in Germany in 1998. Some of the other examples known were retailed in Italy.
Introduced in 1994, the Lange 1 is the first Lange watch of the new era and represents a culmination of what connoisseurs of fine watches associate with the legendary "A. Lange & Söhne" heritage. The patented, oversized date demonstrates how tradition and ingenuity can come together in style. This useful feature, inspired by the digital clock in Dresden's Semper Opera, improves the legibility of the date by about three times in comparison with conventional displays. The silvered dial features the characteristic off-centre hour, minute, second and power reserve indications.
The movement is Lange's hand-wound calibre L901.0, the three quarter plate made of untreated German silver and decorated with Glashütte ribbing. The twin mainspring barrels provide a power reserve of three days when fully wound. It furthermore features a stop second mechanism activated when the crown is pulled out and a patented twin-disc mechanism for the display of the oversized date.