It hasn’t been long since we last saw the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Moon Phase – in fact, we covered the German manufactory’s update to one of its most recognizable watches back in December of 2016. This time around, we’re treated to a subtly new variant called the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase which takes the same silhouette and iconic design cues of that signature Lange 1 and shrinks them 1.7 millimeters, resulting in a svelte 36.8mm pink gold companion piece that should appeal to lithe-wristed collectors chasing something more elegant than current offerings.

The “Little” variant is more than just a shrunken version of the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Moon Phase – most notably due to its silver dial, which exhibits a beautiful circular guilloche throughout, and applied rose gold Roman numerals on the subdial for hours and minutes without the guilloche. But more subtly, the lunar disc is now silver, and finished with matching pink gold moon and stars. Both yield a difference between the two that’s leaps and bounds more elegant in this iteration. Furthermore, the complication that lends the watch its namesake ultimately lacks the visually contrasting punch of the more masculine 38.5mm version, which used a dark blue lunar disc – possibly spelling the suggestion that this iteration is aimed at women.

All the other hallmarks of the Lange 1 have been preserved with the A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase – including the power reserve at 3:00, jumbo date at 2:00, and the accuracy of the manually wound L121.2 movement, whose lunar complication needs only to be corrected by one day every 122 years. Fully visible through the sapphire caseback, the L121.2 is built with untreated German silver plates and maintains Lange’s incredible engraving and hand-finishing. Performance-wise, not only does the movement apparently keep amazing time, it’s characterized by an instant jumping date at midnight, and a running seconds hand at 5:00 that snaps to “zero,” when the movement’s generous 72-hour reserve is exhausted, allowing for a more accurate re-set when it comes time to wind the watch back up.

The A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase watch will be fitted with a white alligator leather strap, finished on a matching pink-gold prong buckle. It is priced just €1,000 less than the pink gold Lange 1 at €38,500. alange-soehne.com