拍品 22

THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR Lots 22 to 36 Christie's are proud to offer one of the most complete private collections of modern platinum wristwatches signed by the celebrated manufacture A. Lange & Söhne to appear in public in recent years. Assembled by a passionate collector of these legendary watches over the last decade, the selection includes two of the very first models introduced after the company's re-launch in 1994, the renowned Lange 1 (lot 28) and the celebrated tourbillon "Pour le Mérite" (lot 31). All in the much sought-after platinum case material, in new condition and sold with their certificates and boxes, these watches are highly coveted trophies in today's collectors market. A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte bei Dresden For over 150 years, watches made by A. Lange & Söhne were and still are among the most coveted timepieces in the world. The success story of the celebrated dynasty started with Ferdinand Adolph Lange, born in Dresden on 18 February 1815. After the divorce of his parents, he found a new home with a merchant family that gave the intelligent young man a good education. At the age of 15, while he was still attending the polytechnic school in Dresden, he began training as an apprentice with the celebrated master watchmaker J. C. Friedrich Söhne. In 1835, Adolph Lange completed his apprenticeship with honours and continued as Gutkäs' employee for two more years before deepening his skills as a journeyman, working with Europe's most respected chronometer makers, notably Winnerl in Paris. After his return to Dresden in 1841, Lange became a co-owner of and the driving force behind Gutkäs' manufactory, constructing amongst others the celebrated five-minute clock in Dresden's Semper Opera. Besides his dedication to horological perfection, Adolph Lange was a person of uncommon social sensitivity. The growing level of destitution in the Ore Mountains ultimately urged him to leave his privileged position in Dresden; in 1845, armed with numerous visions and his journey- and workbook, he set out for the poverty-stricken town of Glashütte in order to establish the Saxon precision watchmaking industry. In December 1845, with the financial help of the Saxon government, Lange started his own manufacture with his friend Adolf Schneider and fifteen apprentices, followed by 'A. Lange & Söhne' in association with his sons Richard and Friedrich Emil in 1868. The demand for Lange's pocket watches grew with increasing economic prosperity and the company flourished. In 1895, a direct telephone link to the Berlin Observatory was installed to get accurate time signals for the production of chronometers. On 8 May 1945, the last day of World War II, Lange's main production building was destroyed and shortly after its reconstruction, the firm was expropriated by the East German Socialist government and the production was seized. When Germany was reunited in 1990, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Adolph Lange, returned to Glashütte to re-establish the family's watchmaking heritage. On 7 December 1990, precisely 145 years after his great-grandfather had founded the company, the production was re-launched under the new name, Lange Uhren GmbH, followed by the re-registration of the legendary brand name "A. Lange & Söhne". Only four years later, Walter Lange proudly presented the first Lange watches of the new era: the Lange 1, the Tourbillon "Pour le Mérite", the Saxonia and the Arkade. Fitted with ingenious and useful mechanical inventions such as the patented oversized date or the patented zero reset mechanism and masterfully finished three quarter plate movements, watches made by "A. Lange & Söhne" are once again paragons of Saxon's watchmaking skills.

A. Lange & Söhne. A fine platinum wristwatch

SIGNED A. LANGE & SÖHNE, GLASHÜTTE I/SA, 1815 MODEL, REF. 206.025, MOVEMENT NO. 2266, CASE NO. 112'879, MANUFACTURED IN 1996

細節

A. Lange & Söhne. A fine platinum wristwatch
Signed A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte I/SA, 1815 model, ref. 206.025, movement no. 2266, case no. 112'879, manufactured in 1996
Cal. L941.1 three quarter plate nickel-finished lever movement, 21 jewels, screwed gold chatons, finely hand-engraved balance bridge, swan neck regulator, silvered matte dial, Arabic numerals, subsidiary seconds, outer railway minute divisions, circular case, glazed display back secured by six screws, platinum A. Lange & Söhne buckle, case, dial and movement signed
36 mm. diam.

拍品專文

With A. Lange & Söhne Guarantee Certificate dated 19 April 1996 and stamped by Wempe, Bremen, operating instructions and original fitted black leather presentation box.

Introduced in 1994, model "1815" was created to pay tribute to Ferdinand Adolph Lange, founder of the legendary company in 1845. Its production was discontinued in 2007.