To understand this complexity one need only flip the 1815 Homage to Walter Lange watch over and examine the in-house made A. Lange & Sohne caliber L1924 movement. Anyone who knows what they are looking at will immediately tell there is something here that most other watches don’t have. Note that the “L1924” name of the movement is in direct relationship to the year 1924 when Walter Lange was born. Produced from 253 parts in mostly German silver, the gorgeous movement clearly has certain pieces that look as though they are from a chronograph (mostly in the pusher system and column wheel transmission), but also something else which A. Lange & Sohne calls a “flirt and star” system. Lucky for them they were more or less able to copy the mechanism invented by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in 1867. The flirt and star system turns constant power from the movement into beats for each second that move the jumping hand in precise one-second increments. There have been other means to achieve a dead-beat seconds action, and this is one of them. Such systems are so unique that I can’t comment on their durability or need for service over time. Why do I even mention this? Because I know for a fact that most all owners of 1815 Homage to Walter Lange watches will be fiddling with the jumping seconds complication constantly.

A. Lange & Sohne’s caliber L1924 manually wound mechanical movement operates at a frequency of 3Hz (21,600bph) and has a pretty decent power reserve of 60 hours (unclear if that is with or without the jumping seconds hand operating). The movement is 31.6mm wide and 6.1mm thick – and of course displays the brand’s legendary high-level of polishing and finishing on the movement surfaces. A. Lange & Sohne will produce four versions of the 1815 Homage to Walter Lange watch – the dimensions of each are 40.5mm wide and 10.7mm thick. There is oddly no water resistance rating on the back of the watch or in A. Lange & Sohne’s materials (so I’m guessing it is water resistant to 30m…or less).

One of the four versions of the 1815 Homage to Walter Lange is a piece unique in steel. A. Lange & Sohne claims it will be auctioned off some time in 2018. In general that isn’t a big deal, but Lange doesn’t make much in steel, and as far as I know there are no production watches in steel. The steel model is a rather gimmicky move, but it is the only model with a black dial. The other three versions are in gold with the reference 297.021 in 18k yellow gold (limited to 27 watches), the 297.026 in 18k white gold (limited to 145 watches), and the 297.032 in 18k pink gold (limited to 90 watches). The final part of the 1815 Homage to Walter Lange watch’s story is what those limited edition numbers mean (they are obscura if there was anything that fit the term). “145” refers to the number of years between when Ferdinand Adolph Lange established the company in 1845 and the year 1990 when it was revived. “90” refers to “1990” (because clearly that volume of watches simply wouldn’t do for Lange limited watches), which is the year when the brand was revived. “27” refers to the number of years between 1990 and late 2017, when the A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Homage to Walter Lange watch was debuted. At least there is an odd harmony to the numbers. Retail price for all the gold versions of the A. Lange & Sohne 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” watch is €47,000. alange-soehne.com