Our first live auction of 2024, the PHILLIPS Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, takes place on May 11 and 12, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47 in central Geneva. The auction includes more than 215 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale over the next month, including the stainless steel, blue dial A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 (lot 29) featured in this article.
– By Logan Baker
The story is incredible. The consignor, a prominent collector of A. Lange & Söhne since the 1990s, sent us a photo of a few watches he was looking to sell. We've included a few in recent online and live Phillips auctions. In the photo was a white-metal, blue-dial Lange 1.
Our natural assumption was that the case metal of the blue-dial Lange 1 was white gold. It's a combination Lange has offered at different times over the years, including with the current-gen ref. 191.028.
In fact, the use of white gold was the only option in our mind once we received the watch in early 2024. However, when Edoardo Bolla, our Associate Specialist in the Geneva department began to catalog the watch, he noticed it featured zero hallmarks anywhere on the case that would indicate the use of gold.
Only at that point did we start to wonder if we might have a previously unknown discovery on our hand – the first-known stainless steel Lange 1 with a blue dial. We reached out to the consignor, the original owner of the watch (acquired in 1999 from the German retailer Oeding-Erdel), however he couldn't recall the specifics behind the model. So we reached out to A. Lange & Söhne to try and find out more information.
Finally, the Glashütte watchmaker came back to us and confirmed that our assumption was correct – the watch was in fact cased in stainless steel and had been fitted with a blue dial by A. Lange & Söhne watchmakers. It was a so-called "commission piece" because it was originally destined to come with a silver dial. At the request of the client, they changed it to a blue dial.
An extra element of mystery surrounds this timepiece as the guarantee indicates the correct case and movement numbers but mentions ref 101.027X which is a “secret reference”, white gold, silver dial and blue hands.
Lange & Söhne have not provided reason for the discrepancy as the watch should be a reference 101.026 (as confirmed by the A. Lange & Söhne Proof of Origin), however, they have confirmed the steel case and blue dial. In an email dating 29 February 2024, Lange confirms that the original silver dial was replaced by them with a blue dial.
It's worth noting that stainless-steel Lange 1 examples are exceedingly rare to begin with. It was never offered in an official brand catalog and the German brand has still never confirmed the exact number produced. Experts estimate that approximately 30 were made in total, of which some have appeared sporadically on the international auction market. Research shows that some were made in 1994 upon the official re-launch of the A. Lange & Söhne, and also produced during the period from 1996-1999 with most examples either delivered to the German, Italian, or American market with either silver or black dials – and at least one blue dial.
The potentially unique and previously unknown A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 is lot 29 in the upcoming Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIX. It's unpolished, comes with the original box and papers, and carries an estimate of CHF 150,000 - 300,000.