Today, I wanna talk about this A. Lange movement thing. I’ve been messing around with watches for a while now, and this brand, A. Lange & Söhne, always comes up when you’re talking about the really good stuff. So, I decided to dig in and see what’s up with their movements.
First off, I started by reading up on them. This company was started way back in 1845 by some guy named Ferdinand Adolph Lange in Germany. That’s a long time ago! They make a small number of watches each year, which makes them pretty exclusive. And, just a heads up, these watches are pricey. Like, really pricey. It seems they have developed 69 calibres since 1990.
I then spent time figuring out what makes these movements so special. I learned that they’re known for being super detailed and fancy. They use all these techniques with names I can barely pronounce, like “black polish.” Sounds cool, right? It’s like, they make sure every single part, even the ones you can’t see, is polished to the nines. They’ve got this one technique, “black polish,” that they only use on their tourbillon, which I guess is a big deal in the watch world.
Here’s a list of what I found:
- They make everything in-house: I mean, they’re not buying parts from other places. They make it all themselves.
- Lots of handwork: They do a ton of stuff by hand, which is kind of old-school but also kind of awesome.
- They use weird materials: I read something about them using “German silver” for some parts, which isn’t actually silver but looks cool.
After learning all this, I had to see one in action. I watched a bunch of videos and looked at a million pictures of these movements. I even tried to find one in a local shop, but no luck. They’re like unicorns. I was especially interested in their 1815 Chronograph. It looks so cool in the pictures, with all those gears and stuff.
Then I thought about whether these watches are a good investment. From what I’ve gathered, they hold their value pretty well, but not as good as some other brands like Patek. It’s kind of like, they’re super cool and all, but not everyone knows about them like they do about the big names. The people said that Patek is way stronger than A Lange & Sohne when it comes to resale. It’s a no-brainer.
So, in the end, I’m pretty impressed with A. Lange & Söhne. Their movements are like little works of art. I don’t think I’ll be buying one anytime soon – gotta win the lottery first – but it’s cool to know what goes into making them. It’s way more than just telling time; it’s like history and engineering all wrapped up in one.
