{"product_id":"a-lange-and-sohne-lange-1-moonphase-as02284","title":"A. Lange \u0026 Söhne Lange 1 Moonphase","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor Germany, Reunification represented a renaissance of sorts for a country that had been rent asunder by the Cold War. And for A. Lange \u0026amp; Söhne, whom fate had situated on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, it was indeed a rebirth; the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.shiftedmag.com\/blog\/a.-lange-s%C3%B6hnes-lange-1-moonphase-signalled-the-watchmakers-rebirth-after-the-cold-war\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Lange 1 Moonphase\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eLange 1 Moonphase\u003c\/a\u003e embodied Reunification in watch form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe brand, which was founded in Glashütte in 1845, its first century was truly a Golden Age. The brand imbued its products with a care and an attention to detail that brought worldwide renown. Its pocket watches, in particular, gained high marks in competition and saw use on the railroads of Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut the coming of World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation saw that golden age come to an end. The Soviet authorities expropriated the company in 1948. The factory was shuttered, and the once-shining name of A. Lange \u0026amp; Söhne nearly faded into obscurity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is, until 1990, when \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.shiftedmag.com\/blog\/815-homage-to-walter-lang\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Homage to Walter Lange\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eWalter Lange\u003c\/a\u003e—great-grandson of the founder, Ferdinand A. Lange—resurrected his family’s old company and brought it to prominence once more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArmed with Ferdinand Lange’s journal, Walter Lange sketched a watch that would adapt his great-grandfather’s designs to modern tastes, while still keeping an eye firmly on tradition. In the journal, Walter Lange discovered sketches of a clock that Ferdinand Lange designed with his mentor Johann Gutkaes. Commissioned by the Elector of Saxony for the Semper Oper House in Dresden, the “Five Minute Clock” was nothing short of revolutionary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith legibility as their primary concern, Johann Gutkaes and Ferdinand Lange designed a clock that, with its rectangular construction and two counter-rotating drums—one to show the hours, the other the minutes —was essentially the world’s first digital clock.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd, over one hundred years later, it was that clock that would inspire the manufacture’s first watch post-Reunification.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1992, Walter Lange filed a patent for a big date window, similar in style to the clock in the opera house; two years later, it would appear on this watch, the Lange 1.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Lange 1 is without question the manufacture’s flagship model, and the big date function is its hallmark. Though found in watches like the Zeitwerk or the Langematik Sax-O-Mat, it’s in the Lange 1 that it’s shown to the greatest effect. Alongside other details such as asymmetrical sub-dials depicting the hours and sub-seconds, and the A. Lange \u0026amp; Söhne signature with its famous \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/andlarry.com\/journal\/watch-the-type\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Watch the Type: A. Lange \u0026amp; Söhne\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eampersand\u003c\/a\u003e, it shows a clarity of vision that is wholly Lange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Lange 1 has seen many variations, from a tourbillon to the Moonphase, seen here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntroduced in 2001, the Lange 1 Moonphase maintains the classic lines of the Lange 1 by incorporating the moon phase indicator into the sub-seconds dial at 5 o’clock. Unlike many moon phase indicators, which move in one or two steps a day, the motion of the moon phase in this watch is continuous, like the tides, bound to the Moon itself. This is made possible by the manually-wound L901.5 movement, which also governs the hacking seconds and power reserve indicator (in German, “auf” und “ab”—that is, up or down).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough available in two sizes and a variety of precious metals, it’s in this configuration— 38.5mm case in rose gold—that the Lange 1 Moonphase really shines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComing complete with inner and outer box and papers, it’s a fitting addition to Lange’s collection, and a worthy memorial to the men who inspired it, as well as the one who created it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRead more on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.shiftedmag.com\/blog\/best-watches-of-sihh-2018\" title=\"New Lange Watch at SIHH 2018\"\u003ewhy we love Lange\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"A. Lange \u0026 Söhne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":3714597158942,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0809\/1255\/products\/Lange_1_Moonphase_AS02284_2.jpg?v=1518799324","url":"https:\/\/www.analogshift.com\/products\/a-lange-and-sohne-lange-1-moonphase-as02284","provider":"Analog:Shift","version":"1.0","type":"link"}