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A. Lange & Söhne is the only non-Swiss brand that collectors routinely place in the same tier as Patek Philippe. That is not a small statement. It means that a watchmaker from Glashütte, a small town in the former East Germany, has earned a position alongside Geneva’s most prestigious house in the estimation of the people who know the most about watches. Lange achieved this not through marketing, not through celebrity endorsements, and not through heritage alone, but through the quality of its movements, which are finished to a standard that rivals or exceeds anything being produced anywhere in the world.
Lange produces approximately 5,000 watches per year. Every movement is assembled twice (yes, they assemble the watch, take it apart, then reassemble it again). Every piece is decorated by hand. The brand uses German silver (an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc, untreated and unplated) for its movement plates, giving them a warm, golden patina that develops over years of exposure to air. There is no brand in watchmaking that takes finishing more seriously, and no brand whose movements are more beautiful to look at through a caseback.
Origins
Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded his company in Glashütte, Saxony, in 1845, with the explicit goal of building a German watchmaking industry to rival Switzerland’s. He trained local craftsmen, developed proprietary tools and techniques, and established Glashütte as the center of German horology. By the late nineteenth century, A. Lange & Söhne (the sons had joined the firm) was one of the most respected watchmakers in Europe, producing pocket watches of extraordinary quality.
The company’s first life ended abruptly. After World War II, Glashütte fell within the Soviet occupation zone. The Lange factory was expropriated in 1948 and absorbed into a state-owned enterprise. The brand ceased to exist. For four decades, A. Lange & Söhne was a memory, kept alive only in the collections of those who owned its pre-war pocket watches.
In 1990, the Berlin Wall fell. Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange, seized the moment. On December 7, 1990, he re-registered the company. Four years later, on October 24, 1994, Lange presented four wristwatches at the Dresden Royal Palace: the Lange 1, the Saxonia, the Arkade, and the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite. It was one of the most remarkable debuts in watchmaking history. A brand that had not existed for nearly half a century returned with a collection that immediately established it among the finest in the world.
The Lange 1
The Lange 1 is the watch that defined the brand’s second life. Designed with an asymmetric dial layout that places the time display, small seconds, power reserve indicator, and oversized date in a balanced but unconventional arrangement, it broke every convention of Swiss dial design. The outsize date, displayed through two separate discs visible through a single window, was an innovation that became a Lange signature and has since been widely imitated across the industry.
The current Lange 1 retails for approximately $38,000 in white gold. It is powered by the in-house caliber L121.1, a manually wound movement with a 72-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback. The movement finishing is extraordinary: hand-engraved balance cock, polished bevels on every edge, perfectly executed Geneva stripes on the three-quarter plate (a Glashütte tradition where a single large plate replaces the multiple bridges used in Swiss movement architecture).
The Lange 1 is available in numerous variations, including the Lange 1 Daymatic (automatic with a weekday display), the Lange 1 Moon Phase, the Lange 1 Time Zone, and the Grand Lange 1 (a larger 41mm version). Each variant maintains the asymmetric dial layout while adding its respective complication.
The Collections
The Saxonia is Lange’s dress watch family, offering the brand’s finishing and movement quality in a more classically proportioned, symmetric dial layout. The Saxonia Thin, at 6.2mm, is one of the thinnest manually wound watches from any major brand. The Saxonia Annual Calendar and Saxonia Moon Phase add useful complications without sacrificing elegance. Entry prices for the Saxonia start around $18,000 to $22,000 in white gold.
The Zeitwerk is Lange’s most unconventional creation: a mechanical watch with a digital time display. Instead of hands, the Zeitwerk shows hours and minutes through jumping discs, powered entirely by a mechanical movement. The constant-force mechanism required to drive the instantaneous jump of the minute disc is a feat of engineering that no other brand has replicated at this level. The Zeitwerk retails for approximately $95,000.
The Datograph is Lange’s chronograph and is widely regarded as one of the finest chronograph movements ever produced. The caliber L951.6 features a flyback function, a precisely jumping minute counter, and a level of finishing that sets the standard for the complication. The Datograph Up/Down, which adds a power reserve indicator, retails for approximately $58,000 in white gold.
The Richard Lange collection, named for Ferdinand Adolph’s son, pays homage to scientific observation watches. And at the top of the range, Lange’s Grand Complications include minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, tourbillons, and combinations thereof, with prices that can exceed $500,000.
Assembled Twice
Every A. Lange & Söhne movement is assembled twice. The first assembly verifies that all components function correctly. The movement is then completely disassembled. Every part is cleaned, and the German silver plates and bridges are hand-decorated with their final finishing: Glashütte ribbing, hand-engraving on the balance cock, polished bevels, blued screws heated to exactly 290 degrees Celsius. Only then is the movement assembled a second time, this time in its final, finished state.
This process is not performed for mechanical necessity. A single assembly would produce a functioning watch. The double assembly exists because Lange believes that the finishing cannot be applied properly until the movement has been tested, and that a finished movement cannot be tested without first being assembled. It is a commitment to quality that adds days to the production of each watch and that no other brand replicates at the same scale.
Buying Lange Today
A. Lange & Söhne is owned by Richemont and distributed through authorized dealers and Lange boutiques. Availability varies by reference. The Lange 1 and Saxonia are generally available with moderate wait times. More complicated references and limited editions require longer waits or established relationships.
On the secondary market, Lange watches offer strong value relative to their quality. The Saxonia can be found from $12,000 to $18,000. The Lange 1 trades in the $25,000 to $35,000 range depending on material and variant. The Datograph, one of the finest chronographs in existence, can be found starting at approximately $70,000 pre-owned. These prices place some of the most beautifully finished watches in the world within reach of serious collectors who might otherwise look only at Swiss alternatives.
Lange occupies a space in watchmaking that is defined by conviction rather than compromise. It is not trying to be Swiss. It is not trying to compete on volume. It is making a small number of watches to the highest possible standard, in a small town in Saxony, with a level of finishing that makes even experienced collectors pause when they look through the caseback. For anyone who cares about what a watch looks like on the inside as much as on the outside, Lange is essential.
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This article is for informational purposes only. Prices, secondary market values, and specifications are approximate and based on market conditions as of early 2026. A. Lange & Söhne is a registered trademark of Lange Uhren GmbH. Tempo is not affiliated with or endorsed by A. Lange & Söhne or Richemont.