October 24th 1994 , A. Lange & Söhne was officially reborn in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Led by Günther Blümlein, the man behind the successful revival of IWC and Jaeger LeCoultre post quartz-crisis, and Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolf Lange, the founder of the manufacture. That day Lange introduced four watches in yellow gold and it becomes a significant moment as these four watches set a new standard in the industry for its extremely high standard of finish in a regularly produced wristwatch.

One of the four watches introduced that day was the Lange 1, a watch that was unusual during that time, with an oversized 38.5mm case diameter (keep in mind that Patek Philippe’s Calatrava during that period only measures 33mm) and asymmetrical dial layout with a big-date and power reserve indicator.

*First generation Lange 1 reference 101.001, property of our dear friend*

Despite looking simple, the case is pretty complex with different finish. The bezel and the case back ring are polished, the case band is brushed, the lugs are notched and beveled. Even the date corrector pusher at 10 is also beveled, brushed and polished.

The Lange 1 is powered by Lange’s cal. L901.0, that borrowed the gear-train from Jaeger LeCoultre’s Cal. 822. It was modified to an extremely high standard and it became the identity of A. Lange & Söhne’s movement moving forward. It has a three-quarter plate made of German Silver, blued screws, gold chains and decorated with different type of finishing including what is known as Glashutte’s stripes, perlage, straight and circular graining and chamfering. On top of those it has an added touch of personalisation with a hand-engraved balance cock. All these was done for a watch that was initially made with a solid case back.

*The solid case back from the first generation Lange 1 and the display case back from the later version showcasing the beautiful Cal. L901.0*

Over the years Lange introduced different variations of Lange 1 with different sizes, different materials on the case and dial, as well as incorporating different complication to it.

*Three different variation of the Lange 1: ref. 110.029 Lange 1 Soirée WG, ref. 101.001 Lange 1 YG, ref. 101.030 Lange 1 WG with Grey Dial.*

The Little Lange 1 was first conceived in 1998 as there were demand for a smaller Lange 1, as the average size for dress watch was 35mm.

*The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase “Gold-Flux” Dial ref. 182.086*

The Lange Timezone was launched in 2005, with a dual timezone display, individual day/night indicators and a 24 city-ring representing 24 different timezone that has been preset in the watch for easy timezone change.

*The Lange 1 Timezone “Kuala Lumpur” ref. 116.031 C/LS1164AR, a 25-piece limited edition in collaboration with Sincere Watches*

The Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase was first introduced in 2014 with a large moon phase indicator placed at the center of the main dial. Not only making it look more distinctive but it is also accurate for 122.6 years once it is correctly set. Two years later, the Lumen variant was conceived with a semi-transparent smoked sapphire crystal with luminous material applied on its hands, date wheel and the moon phase indicator.

*The Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase Lumen ref. 139.035F*

There are other complications in the Lange 1 line, like the tourbillon and perpetual calendar, and I believe the possibility is limitless. Despite all that, with its distinctive feature, I believe the Lange 1 will forever be a classic.