If our Baselworld 2017 “Top 10 Watches” list were expanded by just a few spots, the new Lang & Heyne Georg watch would have very likely made it on there. Produced by hand in Dresden by master watchmaker Marco Lang and team, the Georg is a beautifully conceived classic watch which reaffirms why we like luxury timepieces in the first place.
aBlogtoWatch announced the Lang & Heyne watch here during Baselworld 2017, and later I was able to get a hands-on look. To be honest, I appreciated the good looks of the timepiece when first seeing the clean marketing photos, but for me to really like this type of timepiece the detailing and finishing needed to be utterly perfect. Luckily for me (and Lang & Heyne), the Lang & Heyne Georg watch in person is even more impressive than the pictures. In addition to being an excellent testament to the appeal of the Lang & Heyne brand, this is a fantastic reason to further love German/Saxon watches.
Lang & Heyne hails from Dresden, which is the “big city” less than an hour from Glashütte where most of the “famous” German watches are produced. In fact, most of the watchmakers who work in Glashütte live in Dresden. I wrote an article about how Lang & Heyne makes watches after visiting them in 2015 here. This is a 100% boutique watchmaker that produces as much in-house as possible and, for the most part, everything inside the watch is German.
The value proposition here is in the traditional design, elegant architecture (both inside and outside), and finishing. It’s like buying a modern painting in a classic style, meant to celebrate tradition and timeless design in a package that is as museum-worthy as the heritage models it is based on. While this is nothing new for Lang & Heyne, the Georg model is the first time they’ve done it in a rectangular case. It feels like this is a design aesthetic that inspired a lot of what we like in Art Deco, even though this is only marginally an Art Deco watch, in my opinion (Lang & Heyne says the dial is Art Deco inspired). As I said, while I see and appreciate the Art Deco elements, it feels a bit more classic than that to me.
Pronounced “Gee-org,” the “George” watch is inspired by George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony who ruled during the early 16th century. Aside from being well-regarded by historians, I am not sure how Georg the watch relates to the George the Bearded. Perhaps if you get the watch Marco will tell you all about it.
On the wrist, the Lang & Heyne Georg watch is both comfortable and gorgeous. Available in 18k rose gold, white gold, or platinum, the sculpted case which is rich details sounds smaller than it actually is with dimensions of 32mm wide, 40mm tall, and 9.4mm thick. You can that see that the case is gently curved to wrap around your wrist, and it wears very nicely. I would not call it a small or large watch, but rather an excellent size given the theme. Again, I want to state that this is a very comfortable watch to wear.
Interesting case details include the “triple” lugs, extending facet-style case sides with horizontal line texturing, and detailing around the crown guard. This is the most interesting case I’ve seen from the Lang & Heyne brand thus far, and it is a wonderful complement to the detailing of their movement. Moreover, there is a sort of design rule that says that if a watch case is complicated then the dial can be more simple. Alternatively, a simple case is usually best paired with a more complicated dial. Here, you have the complicated case with a more simple dial – but one with important detailing.
My favorite part of the dial is one that will require some attention to appreciate. The face itself is rectangular, but the dial itself is square. The rest of the space at the bottom is taken up by the overlapping and recessed subsidiary seconds dial. Further, the hands are positioned to be exactly in the center of the square dial for the time. The outcome of this design choice is beautiful and practical. The square dial lends itself to more legibility because the hands always look perfect as they move around the mostly even dial. This allows for the dial design not to look odd in a rectangular space. Isn’t that clever?
The “Made in Saxony” label at the bottom of the dial is sort of the “enthusiast icing on the cake,” The dial doesn’t say Germany at all, but rather “Dresden” and “Saxony.” The idea is to further refine the provenance of the watch to its particular region where this type of watch expertise should be expected. That’s a refined and elegant design decision, which will no doubt endear the watch even more to its buyers.
I must also applaud Lang & Heyne on the choice of hands and polishing – which against the matte white dial offers excellent legibility in a very classic form. All the hands are produced in-house. The hands are either blued steel or 18k gold, and the buyer can mix and match them with the case material as they please. For me, the ideal hands are the blued-steel ones. Attached to the case (which is water resistant to 30 meters) is a nicely fitted alligator strap (with a shark leather lining) that is brown, blue, or black in color. It’s really a darn nice strap, to be honest.
Inside the Lang & Heyne Georg watch is the new and in-house-produced Caliber VIII manually wound mechanical movement. Simple and all about aesthetics, this is movement porn through and through as you gaze at it via the expansive sapphire crystal of the open caseback. Offering just the hours, minutes, and seconds, and operating at 2.5Hz (18,000bph) with 55 hours of power reserve, the Caliber VIII is decidedly simple and all about elegance and aesthetics. What makes the movement interesting and worth mentioning is the traditional design more akin to pocket watches versus wristwatches.
The frosted brass-tone mainplate serves as the canvas for the various hand-finished steel bridges. This is an uncommon touch as bridges are not generally in steel. The rounded edges of the bridges are wide, with rich, rounded tops that are mirror-polished. You then have the careful beveled-edging on the various components which complement the beautiful snailed finishing on the gears. All the screws are flame-blued and polished by hand, while the gears and some other components are various tones of solid gold.
More aesthetic and classic details include the blued metal balance spring as well as the diamond stone palette set into the top of the balance wheel system with its elaborate fine adjustment piece over the bridge. I just can’t see any watch lover looking at the Caliber VIII movement and not having deep appreciation for the aesthetic technique, inherent craftsmanship value, and the attractive overall form.
If you order a Lang & Heyne Georg watch from the brand, you have access to various additional services such as custom detailing or engravings. Each of these watches is typically produced on order for the client and usually takes a few months. I think all watch lovers should aspire to own a watch produced in this way, and if they are ever able to afford one should certainly go through the process at least once. What you get is a timepiece made by hand, for you, by someone who truly wants the outcome to be as perfect as possible. Lang & Heyne affirmed their place as one of the most important independent watchmakers with the release of the Georg this year in 2017. Someday, I’d really like to own something like this. For what you get, the prices aren’t too bad at all (far lower that if it were produced in Switzerland). The Lang & Heyne Georg watch has a price of 26,410 euros in 18 rose gold, 27,830 euros in 18k white gold, and 35,280 euros in 950 platinum. lang-und-heyne.de
