A. Lange & Söhne occupies that upper tier of watchmakers—its products are extremely high quality, highly coveted, and very expensive. That last part does not deter its many avid collectors, but it does not change the fundamental issue of its scarce supply: A. Lange & Söhne watches are, quite simply, difficult to make.
“If I ask my people in Glashutte, they would not see themselves as a luxurious brand. We’re craftsmen: the watches are built by hand, by skilled hands, which we all know is probably the rarest resource on the planet. It takes a long time to build somebody from scratch to become an expert like this,” explains the brand’s CEO, Wilhelm Schmid. Every single watch, he says, from the simplest two-hander to the highest grand complication, is built to the same exacting standards. “The polishing is the same. The amount of skilled labour that goes into it is at a different level—it takes more hours if there are more parts—but the parts themselves, there’s no difference in quality,” he adds.
This means that becoming an A. Lange & Söhne collector can be an experience marked by disappointment, as there simply are not enough timepieces to go around. “It’s a permanent challenge, I admit this,” Schmid says, but the brand’s tight network of boutiques means that it remains in touch with its customers. “If you’re with us, it’s a proper relationship, and rest assured, there will be a time when you’re happy,” he explains. “Sometimes we can make you happy, and sometimes we will make somebody else happy. But if you stay with us, there’s always a happy moment.
“As long as we manage to convey the story that the craftsmanship is the determining factor, I think we can manage the relationship with our clients,” Schmid continues. “Some watches will create a lot more demand than we can produce.”
A. Lange & Söhne announced three new watches at this year’s Watches & Wonders, with the technical highlight being the Minute Repeater Perpetual. As implied by the straightforward name, it combines a minute repeater with a perpetual calendar in a package that includes an outsize date and four-piece, black enamel dial. “Glashutte—we’re great watchmakers, but we don’t have a history of minute repeaters,” Schmid says. In fact, this makes only four, with the first being launched not that long ago, in 2013. “It’s a journey. Bit by bit, we occupy and take, make it in line with [our craftsmanship]. And I think that’s why we surprise people: because we stay true, but it’s still innovative in many regards. And you can see how the expertise of the company, the competence, the knowledge, is growing.”
Cased in platinum and 40.5mm in diameter, the Minute Repeater Perpetual is another ongoing milestone from A. Lange & Söhne, and is hence possessed of significant cachet to collectors. But as a limited edition with only 50 pieces, it won’t be easy to acquire. But it will, at least, make 50 people very happy.
