Hands-On: The 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815

If you caught any of Hodinkee Radio during Watches and Wonders a few weeks back, you probably heard about Lange’s latest releases. After a quick chat about the new Rolex Land-Dweller, Lange was the first brand brought up on our day 1 podcast —  it was top of mind. Malaika Crawford remarked, “Everyone who works at Hodinkee is a Lange head,” and that is likely more than true. This brand has a special ability to grasp the attention of enthusiasts via almost every watch in its catalog. Put very simply by Ben, “it’s because we know what watches are.”

With Lange, one can often assume that some insane complication will sit at the center of its watch fair releases. Literally at the center, typically rendered in extra jumbo size, like this year’s Minute Repeater Perpetual, occasionally chiming via the booth’s speakers. But in an unexpected twist, a humble 1815, newly rendered in a sweetspot hitting 34mm case diameter, had everyone talking. At 6.4mm thick, the specs are all there, and for the brand that famously puts every micron of attention into its entry-level options just as it does its grand comps, the brand new caliber L152.1 should come as no surprise. The 34mm 1815 is Lange’s most compelling release under $25,000 in years.

Anthony de Haas, Lange’s director of product development, has furious, passionate energy. Stepping into the Lange booth for a de Haas product presentation is like attending a sporting event. But the sport is one man eloquently configuring sentences, picking from the thousands of ideas in his mind, rushing to the tip of his tongue. His knowledge of watches and, of course, Lange, is unmatched by even the nerdiest collector — a surprisingly uncommon trait in presentations of this kind. The 34mm 1815 feels like de Haas’s favorite son. He gushed over its simple existence so joyfully that I half expected him to swaddle and rock the newest Lange. The father beamed with pride as he detailed the effort into the new caliber, making clear that this development wasn’t simply the result of ‘People want smaller, let’s shrink the 1815’s case and see if one of our existing movements fit.’

Have you ever met an 8-year-old who dresses like an 80-year-old grandpa who drives a classic MG on the weekends? The kid whom everyone calls their favorite “little man?” That’s the 34mm 1815.

Lange’s most emblematic model is, of course, uncomplicated — the Lange 1 — but much of the brand’s sycophantic enthusiast appeal is encapsulated by its complications. Be it the new Minute Repeater Perpetual, the classic Datograph, or 2018’s Triple Split, this is a brand that excels at making a watch with all the fixin’s — one that is typically better appreciated through the caseback, all the infinitesimally tiny parts on full display. Knowing and appreciating that is important, sure, but Lange’s ability to create the immediately recognizable and austerely simple 1815 is just as critical.

Borrowing from another German company, in 1961, BMW presented the 3200 CS and the 1500 at the Frankfurt Motor Show — famously featuring the Hofmeister kink. While not invented by BMW, this sharp forward angle at the base of a sedan’s rearmost pillar has become part of the brand’s identity and, more generally, a “luxury” car identifier. Wilhelm Hofmeister, BMW’s design chief, most probably looked to earlier Cadillacs and Lancias, but made the kink his own. Whether it’s a distinctly German trait or not, Lange’s Hofmeister kink is its lancet-shaped handset — the signature detail that signals to enthusiasts and casual observers alike: this is a luxury watch. It should come as no surprise that Lange’s CEO is a former BMW executive.

Many factors add up to a watch being well-made, but just like the kink, if you look closely at a watch’s hands, you’ll quickly gain a feel for good and bad. It’s a combination of shape, proportion, quality finishing, and overall elegance. Lange’s hands, which are quite consistent throughout the catalog, have all of this in spades. If we look at the brand’s vintage catalog, a specific hand shape does not stand out; I’m sure the designers noticed a similar problem in the run-up to Lange’s 1994 revival. In a Hofmeister-like move, I have a sneaking suspicion that Lange’s team looked to the highest tier of “luxury” watches at the time for inspiration. There’s a bit of Patek ref. 3796 and 3940 in Lange’s lancets, and a bit of Vacheron Constantin’s ref. 43032 skeleton perpetual calendar as well.

So yes, Lange has a very specific and very German design language. But while Germans are stubborn about things like this, at their best, they do a great job of picking the right things in the first place and then sticking with them. Lange’s magic is in its refusal to veer too far away from what makes Lange, well, Lange, but, importantly, those core tenets are so good that it should never put them aside. This is why Lange can make a watch as simple as the new 1815 and still manage to blow collectors away.

Let’s move inside out, spec-wise. The caliber L152.1 is Lange’s 75th in-house movement, which is quite a number considering the brand, as we know it, has been up and running for only 31 years. Its three-quarter plate architecture is familiar with a proud, hand-engraved balance cock, but the four screwed gold chatons tip off the L152.1’s innovation — a completely redesigned going train. Compared to the 38.5mm version of this watch’s caliber L051.1 movement, the barrel is closer to the crown, and the click has moved away from the keyless works to clear space. That click relocation could contribute to a table full of Hodinkee editors nerding out over the uniquely tactile and “vintage-feeling” winding action of the L152.1. Beyond feeling nice, the going train effort results in an impressive 72 hours of power reserve, up from the 55 hours of the L051.1 and firmly “weekend-proof,” even long weekend-proof.

A micro detail in this new caliber is the stud bridge. With a design borrowed from the top of the brand’s catalog, watches like the Datograph Perpetual and the Richard Lange “Pour le Mérite,” the L152.1 features a stud bridge that allows for easier regulation. When adjusting via the swan neck spring, the slotted screw of the stud bridge is loosened. This design, not seen on the 38.5mm 1815 nor the Lange 1, holds tension on that stud bridge screw which results in a much easier regulating process. Or as one ultra-experienced Lange-certified watchmaker here in NYC said, “it’s better, easier to adjust the beat error to zero, but probably costs more to produce.”

Again, the case is familiar visually but proportionally distinct compared to most Langes you may have put on your wrist. The 6.4mm overall thickness, or lack thereof, goes a long way towards that, but I was also intrigued by the choice of a 17mm lug width. If one is proportionally scaling down the 38.5mm 1815 with 20mm lugs, a 34mm case should net out to having 18mm lugs. The choice for 1mm smaller may seem trivial to most, but it makes a real difference ergonomically. As for case metal options, we’re faced with white gold or rose gold — take your pick.

With the same blue tone found throughout the Lange catalog, the slightly stepped dial design is framed by Arabic numerals and a very subtly snailed sub-seconds dial. Of course, as we have already covered, a case-matching lancet-shaped handset finishes off the look. Call it simple, restrained, austere, or just unmistakably German: Lange’s aesthetic is, at the very least, consistent. Consistent in the same way that nearly every Patek Philippe made before 1980 looks like something your grandfather would wear, yet so distinctive that even if you can only name three watch brands, you’d still recognize a vintage Patek across the room. Lange is well on its way to a similar type of brand cachet.

So what will 34mm of German excellence cost you? A measured $24,500. Within the brand catalog, the newest 1815 slots in at a $6,600 discount versus its big brother, the 38.5mm 1815, at $31,100, while $1,000 more expensive than Lange’s true entry-level Saxonia Thin (37mm) at $23,500. There are few competitors elsewhere for the specific buyer who demands a smaller case.

The story here is the size. Very rarely does the model name of a watch absolutely necessitate including the case diameter. Outside of Rolex, I suppose. That said, Lange is no stranger to modest case sizing. It starts with the ref. 102.001 Saxonia at 33.9mm, a part of that famous foursome, re-announcing the brand in 1994, and continued with the first 1815 at 35.9mm, the ref. 206.021, released in 1995, to name a few of my favorites. 

But as TanTan pointed out in his Introducing post, in the last few years, Lange discontinued many of its compact options – a gaggle of Little Lange 1s and the 35mm Saxonia — something was coming. That something would have been expected at 36mm or 37mm.

Often as watch enthusiasts, we respond to a new release with “Damn, that’s good but I wish it were X milimeters smaller.” As someone who has made that comment to brand representatives, I know that the regular response revolves around mass consumer taste, which differs from that of watch nerds. But Lange is unabashedly for the heads, that’s why the Hodinkee office is littered with fans, and that’s why the 34mm 1815 exists. The brand is uniquely positioned to make exactly this watch and sell as many as it can produce. 

If BMW makes “the ultimate driving machine,” Lange makes the ultimate time-telling machine.

For more information, visit Lange online. 

​Hodinkee 

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