8048Σ︎
A. Lange & Söhne
Ref. 401.026
1815 Chronograph
An attractive and elegant white gold flyback chronograph wristwatch with pulsometer scale, guarantee and presentation box
Full-Cataloguing
- Released to commemorate the birth year of Walter Lange’s birth year in 1815
- First generation 1815 Chronograph
- 36 hours power reserve
- Ever since the modern revival of A. Lange & Söhne, the brand has been releasing fine watches defining outstanding German watchmaking, and the Datograph has become a new benchmark in modern luxury chronograph watches. A few years later, in 2004, to commemorate the birth year of Walter Lange’s great-grandfather in 1815, A. Lange & Söhne released the 1815 Chronograph, featuring a pulsometer scale and without the outsized date display, it is leaning towards a more traditional, vintage-looking chronograph watch, and a homage to Lange’s high-grade historic pocket watches.
- The present 1815 Chronograph belongs to the first generation of the model. The dial is a four-layer construct, with an elevated pulsometer scale at the peripheral ring, while the subsidiary dials are sunken to the main plate. The most obvious characteristic is the signature on the main plate, in which the brand name is not at the centre but the peripheral ring. These features were updated in 2008 release, so the present example is a rare and late timepiece from the first generation batch.
- The transparent sapphire caseback allows the appreciation of the finely made cal. L951.0 movement. Derived from Datograph’s cal. L951.1, the current movement was exquisitely hand-finished with a German silver three-quarter plate, hand-engraved balance cock, and black-polished chronograph levers. This flyback chronograph enables precise timekeeping with ease, demonstrating the magnificent watchmaking capability of the brand.
A. Lange & Söhne
German | 1845Originally founded in 1845 by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in Glashütte, Dresden, Germany, the firm established an entire watchmaking culture and industry in Glashütte. The brand quickly became Germany's finest watchmaker, first creating dependable, easy-to-repair watches before going on to produce some of the world's finest complicated pocket watches, including Grande Sonnerie watches, tourbillon watches and Grande Complications.
On the final day of World War II, their factories were destroyed by Russian bombers, and in 1948 the brand was confiscated by the Soviet Union. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, Ferdinand's great grandson Walter Lange re-established the brand with the objective to once again produce top-quality luxury watches. Now part of the Richemont Group, its original vintage and modern creations are highly coveted by collectors. Key models from the modern era include the Lange 1, Pour Le Mérite Tourbillon and the Zeitwerk.