A. Lange & Söhne

This watch manufacturer/brand has a very rich history in comparison to other watchmakers. And a part of this brand guide is to give a quick look at their history and what started these manufacturers and where they are now. As well as their current watches available on the market. Even though I cannot pronounce their name I will still try to give a good overview of A. Lange & Söhne.

Brief History

Ferdinand Adolph Lange started the company in 1845 in Glashütte, Germany. The company was originally called A. Lange & Cie. Before all this however, Ferdinand spent a lot of his earlier years studying and working to improve his craft as a watchmaker. He had a long history of being taught by several master watchmakers all over Europe.

He was very supportive of his small team at the company. They all started as beginners just learning the basics of watchmaking. Once they later fully mastered their skills, he would encourage them to leave and start their own company.

The company really changed the name to A. Lange & Söhne when his son Richard joined him in 1868. Ferdinand passed away in 1875, it then became his two sons Richard and Emil who took over the company. Richard was the technical side of A. Lange & Söhne who was interested in elevating the timepieces into unknown territory and keep experimenting. While Emil was interested purely in business and driving sales to the company. Which worked really well for A. Lange & Söhne. Some notable patents by Richard include: up/down power reserve indicator, pocket watch with minutes counter and improved chronometer restraints.

World War I and II presented a lot of challenges for Lange. In 1919, Emil retired and left the company to his three sons, Otto, Rudolf and Gerhard. From the mid-1930s to the end of World War II, A. Lange & Söhne alongside with Stowa, IWC, Laco and Wempe built the B-Uhren for Germany’s air force.

On the 8^th of May 1945 the Lange headquarter was almost completely destroyed in an air raid by the Soviets. 1948 saw the nationalisation of Glashütte watch companies. The Lange name disappeared from dials due to the seized watch companies being merged in 1951.

It was later revived by Walter Lange and Günter Blümlein on December 7, 1990 following the German reunification. Several swiss watch manufactures helped restore the company as Lange Uhren GmbH. 145 years later to the exact date Ferdinand founded the original company, it was re-established and re-registered as A. Lange & Söhne and was based in Glashütte.

Watches from A. Lange & Söhne

The current line of pieces available on A. Lange & Söhne are: Odysseus, Lange 1, Zeitwerk, Saxonia, 1815 and Richard Lange.

Aside from their beautiful detail and precision on their watches, the most impressive thing for me personally is all in their movement. Specifically, on how their movements on their watches look. It is an unspoken rule on r/Watches, that if anyone posts an A. Lange & Söhne they have to include a picture of the movement of the watch.

Watches from A. Lange & Söhne are quite expensive so they are not as easily accessible to consumers. However, if you do ever get the change to see the watch in person or inspect the watch, I suggest you take that chance to admire the precision and detail on their watches, and also to admire the movements in person as pictures do not do them justice.