In many respects, the Lange 1 signifies for me personally, the heart and soul of what A. Lange & Söhne is about — beautiful craftsmanship and stunning, maybe disruptive, design.One look at the Lange 1’s dial and you may see what I mean by tumultuous. This is not your typical dial. The hour and moment indices, rather than taking up the entire watch face, occupy a huge display on the left side of the dial with Roman numeral hour markers at five, six, nine and 12. Directly above that’s the power reserve indicator, which, of course, is an extremely helpful tool when you are dealing with a manually wound movement. (N.B. Entirely wound, the Lange 1 will operate for 72 hours) Finally, over the power reserve indicator and to the right of the hour and minutes screen, you have a Lange signature — the Lange large date display. Why is it unique, despite the obvious? Unlike many date windows, this one is not set via the crown. On the contrary, it is controlled by means of a pusher at 10 o’clock on the face of the circumstance. The joy of this feature is hard to put into words. Never has it been easier or, I might add, more fun to advance the date onto a watch.Now, if someone were to describe the dial of the Lange 1 to you without the assistance of a photo, you may think to yourself, “Wow, that sounds like a weird, jumbled mess.” But somehow, in practice, that asymmetry makes for something amazingly harmonious, ridiculously impressive and incredibly unique.
The watch industry is currently experiencing a season of change. This is especially true for those brands under the Richemont Group that dominate the important Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). At no time during my decade in the watch industry have I seen more shifting of resources, power, and effort than now. That’s actually a good thing as the high-end watch industry is currently undertaking the massive challenge of reforming itself – though the process will take longer than the annual schedule of trade show news expectations allows for. No one, however, wants to be caught with their pants down, and it is admirable to see the effort the watch industry puts into the important show even though many of them are mid-stride not only in the development of new products, but also in terms of the many newly situated managers and creative professionals that run the brands.
The watch industry, if anything, excels at proud presentations. SIHH 2018 sees the 35 participating brands emphasize their greatest qualities with newly designed booths and lots of fresh optimism in the form of newly appointed managers and executives. With that said, little of the dust in the air at most of the brands settled, and many might argue that novelty-hungry luxury buyers may have been better off waiting another year for more impressive news and new product announcements. Alas, despite a decent volume of well-conceived new products, the talk at many watch brands isn’t what new products were shown at the show – but rather what upcoming developments they are excited about.
Watches at 40mm can be many things to many people — too big for some, too small for others, and still yet only right for many others. The exact proportions and the facts can make a major difference. For example, Lange bezels tend to be on the thinner side, along with the bezel here is no exception, which makes the watch wear a little large. On the other hand, the opinion neatly balances being equally slim and sturdy, and it feels a commanding presence at the palm of your hands, with the right bit of heft, as anyone who has had the opportunity to handle a Lange understands well.One of the nicest things about the case is the brushed ring round the sides. Not every producer pays attention to details like this, but Lange does, and it help sets the German watchmaker’s creations apart from those of rivals. The combination of this polished, rounded bezel and the brushed instance ring adds contrast and depth to what would otherwise be a relatively traditional case.The lugs are somewhat on the small side for a 40mm case. Even though this may easily ruin the balance of an otherwise wonderful watch, that is not the case for your 1815 Annual Calendar. The briefer lugs actually allow the case to feel bigger on the wrist, which is a plus for people who might be afraid to take the 40mm plunge. But the best part about this situation? The day/date corrector button situated at two o’clock. Together with the 1815, you can just push the beautifully curved rectangular button in two o’clock along with the day and date will advance simultaneously. Consider yourself #blessed without needing do deal with all the hassle that is corrector pins.The 1815 Annual Calendar is manually-wound, using a power reserve of 72 hours. That means in the event that you allow your watch go over three times between windings (state you leave it on your dresser during a long weekend, by way of example), you’ll need to correct the date and day. Fortunately, you can just push the attractively curved rectangular button and the day and date will advance simultaneously.
More than half of the big luxury watch brands we met with are currently experiencing or recently experienced complete shifts in their management. That means new CEOs, country manager, designers, and all the other bits and pieces that make these companies stick together. A palpable sense of “what brand am I at today” could be felt as many of the usual suspects in the industry find themselves handing out business cards with new names or titles on them. Richemont in general has been uncommonly open with their various restructuring plans, showing the human side of the often extremely-closed corporation “family.”
One of the more interesting areas of novel openness was the increased mention of the group’s in-house movement and parts maker, ValFleurier. Often referred to as “Richemont’s ETA,” (ETA is an important watch movement maker owned by competitor the Swatch Group), talk has shifted from “in-house made” to “in-group made.” Brands at the group are increasingly cognizant that their cooperative relationships are better spoken about than hidden behind language designed to promote their supposed independence and managerial autonomy (stories of which were often more optimistic fantasy than reality). Richemont more than ever is seen as a single body – perhaps with many arms, but one whose parts operate in relative unison. The corpus of the big group is grasping for stability, while at the same time recognizing that change will be the norm until it and much of the global economy settles itself.
In many respects, the Lange 1 represents for me, the heart and soul of what A. Lange & Söhne is about — beautiful craftsmanship and stunning, if not disruptive, design.One look at the Lange 1 dial and you may see what I mean by tumultuous. This is not your normal dial. The hour and minute indices, rather than taking up the entire watch face, occupy a huge display on the left-hand side of the dial with Roman numeral hour markers at three, six, nine and 12. Directly above that is the power reserve indicator, which, of course, is an extremely beneficial tool when you’re dealing with a manually wound movement. (N.B. Entirely wound, the Lange 1 will run for 72 hours) Ultimately, over the power reserve indicator and to the right of this hour and minutes display, you’ve got a Lange signature — the Lange big date display. What makes it unique, despite the apparent? Unlike a lot of date windows, this one isn’t set via the crown. Instead, it’s controlled by a pusher at 10 o’clock on the face of the case. The joy of the feature is hard to put into words. Never has it been easier or, I might add, more entertaining to advance the date onto a watch.Now, if a person were to describe the dial of the Lange 1 to you without the aid of a photograph, you may think to yourself, “Wow, that sounds like a weird, jumbled mess.” But in practice, that asymmetry makes for something amazingly harmonious, ridiculously remarkable and stunningly unique.
A special feature of Caliber L921, also called the Sax-0-Mat, is a zero-reset role for the seconds — hence the “0” at “Sax-0-Mat.” The small seconds hand automatically contributes to the zero position when the crown is pulled out, for to-the-second time setting. “Sax-0-Mat” seems on the dial and rotor. The balance oscillates at 21,600 vph. A. Lange & Söhne provides the Langematik with or without a big-date display.The firm unveiled its in-house chronograph movement, Caliber L951.1, in the Basel Fair in 1999. The grade, that was hand-wound, 30.6 mm in diameter and 7.5 mm thick, was four years in evolution, and included a flyback function.Its unconventional characteristics include another bridge to its fourth wheel, a chronograph operating lever mounted between 2 bearings, a flexible coupling lever positioned at the center of the fourth wheel, plus a minute-counter-operating lever mounted between jewels. There is also a stepped pinion for accurate minute-counter improvements, a getaway wheel with four stones, a massive Glucydur screw balance and a Breguet balance spring. The equilibrium oscillates at the classic frequency of 18,000 vph. The caliber also supports Lange’s recognizable outsize date, to which the prefix “Dato” alludes.Nowadays that this view can be obtained as the Datograph Auf/Ab; the movement was improved along with a power-reserve display has been added. There is also a variant with a perpetual calendar, the Datograph Perpetual.In the watchmaking world, there is the chronograph complication — in itself a more intricate type of movement that’s tough to develop and to build. Then, there is the flyback chronograph, allowing for an instantaneous reset-start of the timing session. And for years, right at the top of the food chain was the Split Seconds or rattrapante chronograph — the supreme version of the stopwatch.
Let’s return to how all this translates into the consumer experience, which I am proud to say will be positive for 2018 and beyond as new, often well-priced products are soon to come to market. Whether the industry has incorporated my advice over the years, or has come to the same conclusions independently, we are seeing important changes in a number of ways. When it comes to “mainstream” luxury products (not extremely high-end super luxuries) at SIHH, prices are generally down and value-propositions are trying to be pushed up. On paper the consumer does well, as we’ve never seen more decent products debuted at the show in the $10,000 and under category. Yes, there are some noticeable cost-cutting measures when it comes to simplifying production techniques and product detailing. With that said, offerings of new features and performance promises are hoped to swoon consumers who have been paying attention to what the industry has been doing over the last few years, but haven’t been putting down money as often as the brands hope for.
Enthusiasm for the wholesale model of selling watches first to retailers and then to end-consumers seems to be at an all-time low. It isn’t that brands are greedy to recapture margin, but rather that the traditional wholesale retail environment has failed in at least one very important area; marketing building. That translates into the fact that retailers – despite investing in buying products – still don’t seem to have much incentive to promote the brands they carry to their own local markets. The reasons for this are complex, but it has meant that the brand’s themselves have been saddled with the obligation to build consumer demand and awareness (through marketing and advertising) while still promising retailers world-class margins (profits on selling watches which average between about 40–50% per watch). Such margins made more sense when watch brands merely produced and delivered products, but these days with the brands having intensive marketing budget obligations, the old model of distributing watches is finally experiencing its last days as the dominant means of placing a luxury timepiece on the the wrist of a consumer.
To maintain positive relations with those retailers they still rely on, brands aren’t yelling “e-commerce” as loud as some might expect, but quietly most of the big luxury names are actively planning to sell direct or via digital retailers to consumers. The internet is potentially being embraced in a new way for 2018 and beyond, but watch brands still need to seriously bolster the intelligence and expertise in their marketing and communication departments. The message of needing digital and marketing fluency has been received, but at this point the industry simply doesn’t have enough good people internally already to handle the needs of all the brands. It will take a few more years before more of the luxury watchmakers have brought in the right talent to help them not only thrive on digital platforms, but also to cease making costly and often embarrassing “investments” in social media influencers and other half-cocked “get internet famous” schemes. As an industry that espouses the virtues of taking the slow, careful, well-thought-out approach, they still need to incorporate such wisdom in their often fluctuating marketing and advertising departments.
Hope is certainly there for an industry that has been much maligned in the recent past by its stubborn reliance on archaic business models which arguably stopped working decades ago. The digital reality most consumers live in is slowly being tolerated by the Swiss and other European interests that still dominate decision making at luxury watch brands. Knowledge on how to produce museum-worthy products is still accessible, and now brands need to match the same level of quality in their communication and distribution strategies. They are crawling to that point more and more each year – but the finish line may not yet be in sight. With that said, I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of the industry – even if I still can’t predict what it may look like.
This season, at the SIHH 2018, A. Lange & Söhne presented the Triple Split, the “mighter than powerful” version of its rattrapante chronograph. One watch to rule them all…Using a watch of these features in your hands or in your wrist, even if it’s just for a few minutes, makes it hard to keep your journalistic objectivity complete. So please excuse me if the following article becomes lyrical and enthusiastic… That is the effect a watch such as the A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split can have to a watch fan. But before that, I have to ask a simple question: Is the Triple Split useful? And the response is: No! This watch has just no rational function. The Dual Split was already a demonstration of desirable inutility and the Triple Split follows the exact same path. Don’t get me wrong, however. I say so with all due respect and a great deal of affection. This view is in Precisely the Same vein as a Lamborghini Aventador SV or a Bugatti Chiron. Impossible to use on the street yet oh-so-essential in the exact same time. The Lange Triple Split is a dream machine, and fantasies aren’t designed to be rational. That having been said, let us have a look at this bit of pure “watch eroticism”.What is a split? What is a double split? And what’s more, what is a triple split? Or short, why is the ALS Triple Split THE most complicated chronograph ever created?Once upon a time, watchmakers made a tool named the chronograph — or even the stopwatch (using a lot of questions about who actually created it — Nicolas Rieussec or even Louis Moinet). They had been created in order to figure out the length of an event, from its start to its end. Whether they are presently utilized to assess the cooking time of your own pasta or the length of a meeting, their first goal was to time races.
Now lets take a look at the top 10 products that aBlogtoWatch feels are the best from SIHH, and represent the types of products and values watch consumers should be looking forward to in 2018 and beyond.
Montblanc TimeWalker Manufacture Chronograph
Last year Montblanc radically redesigned the iconic Timewalker collection into being a motor-enthusiast lifestyle watch with a hip look. This year in 2018 Montblanc adds what will easily be the collection’s most popular model among those who are seeking a trendy, well-groomed look as well as some horological street cred. Fitted with a new in-house chronograph movement, the Montblanc Timewalker Manufacture Chronograph has an attractive three register chronograph display, panda-style dial, and comes on an optional bund-style “cuff” black leather strap. It’s macho, a good value, and genuinely pretty to look at… and we think a lot of people are going to want one. Price: €4,990
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon
The luxury watch industry has no shortage of tourbillon-based watches to choose from. Looking at the Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle, these new 18k pink gold or platinum timepieces include a stunningly well-decorated movement that features just the time with a tourbillon, in a slick automatic movement with a peripheral rotor that does little to hamper the view of the decorated parts. Topping it all off is the use of some of the industry’s best hands. Simply lovely, and a good way to show off about $100,000 on the wrist. Price: $118,000 in Rose Gold and $149,000 in Platinum