German watch manufacture A. Lange & Söhne has recently unveiled four of its iconic models in a classically elegant combination of deep-blue solid-silver dials and exquisite white-gold cases.
These include the iconic LANGE 1, LANGE 1 DAYMATIC, SAXONIA and SAXONIA AUTOMATIC, two manually wound and two self-winding models from its current collection with in solid silver.
The SAXONIA was one of four watches that were introduced as the first Lange collection in 1994.
Blue is a special colour that has always inspired artists and perpetually preoccupied scientists as well. Leonardo da Vinci once described the colour of the sky and its expanse as an amalgamation of light and darkness.
The natural ultramarine extracted from lapis lazuli was so rare and precious that Albrecht Dürer likened it to pure gold. It was not until the early 18th century that it became possible to produce a synthetic pigment with a deep-blue hue which did not exist in nature. The discovery of Prussian blue triggered a revolution in the fine arts, without which Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, Picasso’s Blue Period and Van Gogh’s The Starry Night could not have been created.
The LANGE 1 DAYMATIC has been the first watch of the LANGE 1 watch family with a self-
winding movement.
And thus polished hands and rhodiumed gold appliques on these deep-blue galvanised dials, are complemented by hand-stitched dark-blue alligator leather straps and solid white-gold prong buckles.
In 1994, the asymmetric dial layout of the LANGE 1 was a groundbreaking innovation.
Not withstanding (and to refresh your memory), the four models feature proprietary manufacture calibres that showcase all Lange-style quality hallmarks, from the artisanal finissage of all movement parts to the elaborate twofold assembly process. Even those surfaces that are later no longer visible through the sapphire-crystal caseback are lavishly finished and decorated.
The edges of all plates, bridges and cocks are chamfered and then polished to a mirror finish.
The hand-engraved balance cock, with the classic whiplash spring, beautifully symbolises Lange's unfaltering quest for perfection.
The new SAXONIA AUTOMATIC with a deep-blue galvanised dial made of solid silver.
All these make each A. Lange & Söhne timepiece a unique work of art.
