A. Lange & Söhne

Lange & Söhne – a visit to the factory helps a lot to understand the products and ...

 

... the people behind. I will share some impressions of the trip, some wrist shots of watches together with personal thoughts about and an excursion about value.

“The price is what we have to pay. The value is what we get.” Warren Buffett

 

If something is valuable or not depends on the eye of the beholder – only. Companies are only able to define the price of something, but not the (market) value – even if they would love to do so. Of course they can tell us something about uniqueness, purity, rarity, history or beauty to make watches more valuable to us – nothing more nothing less. It´s quite a lot about “story telling” if you want to sell something today which is “just” a watch – even when it is an amazing one.

Why do I share those kind of thoughts? Well, when it comes to ALS it is more than just about (“pricey”) watches. It´s about the people and the stories around. Günther Blümlein and Walter Lange did a great job when starting the brand again 20 years ago. They played almost each card available to create value – serious products and stories to support them from day one. Gold & platinum cases only, by hand engraved balance cocks for each watch, assembling twice … one movement, one watch – only … references to history … a nicely written autobiography of Walter Lange who still is the major ambassador of the brand to mention only a few examples.

 

Quite a long time before I bought my first Lange I was keen on their watches and also the stories behind. I was interested to meet the people, those who create the watches – masterminds, watchmakers, service people and others. I just felt there is a lot to see and to learn. Now I have been there several times, I have visited quite a few other factories and watchmaker workshops as well, but I still learned something interesting at my last visit at ALS – simply because the people working at the processes helped me to understand their product, the values and to see the differences once more. Thanks, therefore!

 

Stories – let me show some selected impressions taken by me to give you an idea what I am talking about.

Day 1 - history of Dresden and the founder of ALS

The former place where A. Lange was working as an apprentice – the big tower on the right next to the church. History was part of our sightseeing tour in Dresden.

Uniqueness and class at a special place ...

We had a very nice dinner prepared by the chefs of the Restaurant Carousel (Bülow Residenz) at a very special place – vineyard Zimmerling (one of my favorite wine makers from Saxony).

We got a short tour from his lovely wife (Malgorzata Chodakoska), which supports her husband (Klaus Zimmerling) in winemaking but is a great artist as well. She is very good in sculptures and all the following shown here are from her. It is a very special place, strongly influenced by the two interesting characters and so is the wine - outstanding.

(One of the starters)

(One more sculpture in the wine cellar)

(A sculpture on top of the wine cellar)

By the way and just for completeness, it was a soccer world championship game at the same time when we had dinner and Germany played against … (I forgot J). ALS has arranged a TV for those who needed to see the game, but me didn´t look one minute. Good company, food & wine got my preference

After a very nice evening we drove back to the hotel and in our rooms we have been greeted by someone famous as well, the Bülow bear.

Attentive readers may have seen him before here - THE bear, even when he changed his look over the years.

 

Day 2 – history about the company & more …

The founder and some historical milestones at the factory in Glashütte/iSA. Several things have changed since my last visit three years ago, but the most important one hasn´t – the spirit of the people I met at the factory. We have seen several steps in the process of watchmaking and got patient (!) replies to our questions by the staff, in each department. Even when my group asked more detailed questions as common, the staff surprised with serious passion for the topic they are in charge. We don´t have seen miracles, but we have seen how they create high quality products with modern machines and not to forget by hand with outstanding skills needed. Once more it was fascinating to watch them at work and to have a closer look to unfinished movements and especially some highly complicated movements (e.g. 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar) on the bench got our full attention.

The engraving department shows uniqueness with their products and is probably the kind of uniqueness which is easy to see and to understand even by laymen. Individualization – personal initials (on request only) at the balance cock are probably not unique in the world of watches, but they will increase the value for the proud owner. As a goodie during a factory visit you can get a picture of an engraved balance cock, with a signature by the master engraver who worked on your watch, after one of the engravers had a look on yours and identified the respective engraver.

So far it happened all the time. Owners of a watch from ALS changed their view on their watch after the visit - proudness, as you probably can imagine. I bet quite a few would love to learn even more about, because they are impressed with what they have seen so far. It´s a very good way to create (additional) value (for the customer), isn´t it.

 

No pictures taken by me or anyone else when visiting the several departments, because it is not allowed anymore. An appropriate solution to get your own “pictures” about the processes is to organize your own visit …

Watches

 

Because of the high demand on the novelties those are travelling around the world. They tried to bring them in for us, but without success this time – unfortunately for those who haven´t seen them before. Nonetheless there have been quite a lot watches to see, to handle and to try on the wrist – regular collection & more. Even when I love to visit the different workshops/departments the presentation of the collection is always my favorite part of a factory visit. This time I didn´t even take a glass of Champagne, but enjoyed each second when taking pictures of some of the watches. Those taken I would like to share with you, finally.

 

Langematik Perpetual in RG

I always appreciated it for what it is and especially the movement is just outstanding, but it was never high on my list. Until recently I thought I don´t need that kind of complication in my personal collection, because there are others that impress me even more. What changed? It has lots of addictive charm to look at the moon and it felt just perfect on my wrist. Sometimes it is that simple

Double-Splitt in RG

An amazing piece, for sure. It is a seriously big watch nonetheless, but one that I would love to see on my wrist one day. My choice would be PT in that case, even when the one shown is nice as well. The movement, it is all about the movement – the functions and the very unique view it offers. The latter is a good reason to learn to life with a bigger watch on the wrist – something I don´t say that often …

Datograph in PT – new version

To be honest I was not a big fan of the evolution when introduced. The technical improvements and the visual changes haven´t been important enough for me and my personal taste - not to mention the premium asked. This time I changed my view and I see some extra value important for me, the new dimensions of the case feel more comfortable on my wrist.

Collectability? Some may say it has to be the original one, but I tend to disagree here. It doesn´t really count for me as there have been (almost) too many watches out there, because of the longtime of production. At the end one of the most important points for me is always the pleasure on my own wrist, anyway.

Datograph Perpetual in RG

Beside the WG with grey dial, this is my favorite version of this specific watch. It has lots of charm and felt just at home on my wrist. I have the impression this watch gets more attention recently, especially by matured collectors who also used to own the “simple” Datograph. Do they all need the additional complication, now? Did something change? Was it a “sleeper”? I have no definite answer yet, but I can say I am addicted as well and I am surprised about me – once more

Zeitwerk in RG

My favorite version when introduced was the WG with black dial, followed by the Phantom which I almost have been fallen for. Today I would love to own an even more special version – the Handwerskunst. Still I think each version is nice, but for different people and tastes.

There was a time when I thought the Zeitwerk could be the successor of the Lange 1, but so far I am wrong. Maybe it is (just/still) because of the difficulties to produce significant numbers for the demanding market …

Lange 1 Timezone in PT

A watch that I liked from day one, but never fall in serious love. It would be nice to have one, but some competitors are higher on my list.

Richard Lange PLM in PT

Love - if we talk about this specific version. Need I say more?!

Richard Lange Toubillon PLM in PT

An outstanding and impressive watch for what it is.

It shows some amazing details and is a pleasure to look in detail. But it is just not for me and my wrist.

1815 Up & Down – new version

Historic pocket watches and marine chronometer come to my mind when looking at that little complication.

Maybe it is the “perfect” complication for those who want something special, but also have to take care about the budget and are not a diehard WIS.

Lots of charm without breaking the bank and just nice for daily use, especially when you need to wear a suit. For those with smaller wrists I would also recommend to have a look on the predecessors. Especially the WG with blue dial is amazing … to say the least.

Lange 1 Luminous

A limited edition piece sold out after minutes only when introduced in Glashütte and not even in Geneva during SIHH. It is a nice piece, but lucky me I am not addicted as there are none available anymore. For some it was highly priced, but for others it offered great value and they are still keen to get one.

Richard Lange in PT

One of my all-time favorites. Even when it doesn´t show unique design dedicated to ALS (on the first view), it is probably the purists choice when looking for a Lange. To me it is a simple watch not created by a business-case (only) and it reminds me to some vintage chronometers (not from ALS) especially when looking at the movement. It is like a simple but perfect (bespoke) business suit and only the owner can really appreciate it …

Lange 1 Moon Phase – latest version

A modern watch that looks nice on the wrist and shows a very well executed and big moon, but even when the ALS DNA is easy to see it “smells” like different brands as well. As you can probably guess I still prefer the older version.

 

That was everything I have to share for today and I hope you don´t mind my musings about value. Personally I think ALS still does a great job when it comes to additional value, but I don´t see the famous “extra-mile” they went with each model in the past. I think one has to look closer today, he has to look to products & activities from other brands for comparison and then he has to define what kinds of values shown are important for him. Nothing is wrong, it´s just different.

 

At the end I would like to say thanks to the team from ALS and Bucherer for their great hospitality and also to the nice people travelling with me, it was a pleasure and I appreciated those two days a lot.

Oliver

This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-07-24 08:23:49

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