If you’ve spent an hour or two with a watch enthusiast, you’ve likely heard them wax poetic about “in-house” watchmaking.
Perhaps you’ve even met the collector who will only buy watches that feature in-house movements. Maybe you agree with this, and maybe you don’t — but where did the obsession with in-house movement manufacturing come from? In the grand scheme of watchmaking history, the in-house hysteria is a relatively new phenomenon. Few realize that one marque in particular — Germany’s A. Lange & Sohne — had an outsize impact upon the notion of importance given over to in-house manufacturing.
While a number of brands at the high end of the market have played significant roles in regularizing in-house movement manufacturing, Lange — new to the industry in the early 1990s — jolted the Swiss out of their reliance on third-party ébauches and kickstarted a small revolution. One model in particular caused watch executives to stop, stare, and consider the future of the business in the new millennium…and that model was the Datograph.
Some History
The 1994 press conference that relaunched A. Lange & Söhne - (Image by A.Lange & Söhne)
At the tail end of the Second World War, Lange lost its factory in a bombing raid, and the entirety of the German watch industry was subsequently nationalized under Soviet rule. Following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany in 1990, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolf Lange, pounced on the opportunity to relaunch the Lange brand. From 1990 to 1994, the company prepared its inaugural collection consisting of four pieces, including the Lange 1.
If 1994 was the spark needed to garner worldwide attention, 1999 represented the ensuing fire — that year, Lange presented the Datograph, the brand’s first manually-wound chronograph wristwatch. This model was noteworthy for a host of reasons, from design to movement.
A.Lange & Söhne Datograph Ref. 403.035
First, the Datograph brought Lange’s distinctly German flavor of watchmaking to a chronograph package, providing a bold design unlike anything else the industry was offering. Developed from the ground up by Lange as the first serially produced, manually-wound, in-house chronograph movement from a premier brand, the L951.1 sent the Swiss watchmaking industry to the boardroom to scramble to catch up. Furthermore, the Datograph wasn’t merely a chronograph, but a flyback chronograph — a special type of chronograph that doesn’t need to be stopped before being reset, allowing it to quickly time consecutive events.
In just five years since the inaugural collection, Lange had achieved something truly unprecedented and changed the watchmaking industry just ahead of the 21st century.
Design
A.Lange & Söhne Datograph Platinum - IN THE SHOP
At first, the initial plans for the Datograph were for a tonneau-shaped chrono — not a round model — though this didn’t come to fruition. The original model, Reference 403.035, was fashioned from platinum and outfitted with a black ‘Roman’ numeral dial. The dial itself was rather unconventional, using Lange’s iconic outsize date complication as a nod to the Lange 1 and, in turn, the Dresden Semperoper Opera House five-minute clock that Ferdinand Adolf Lange had worked on in the 19th century.
Additionally, the chronograph totalizers, traditionally located at 3 and 9 o’clock, were relocated to 4 and 8 o’clock, forming an isosceles triangle with the outsize date located at noon. This initial design was also quite three-dimensional, with sunken sub-registers and an elevated tachymeter scale that caused the dial to “pop” off the wrist. The silver registers contrast sharply with the black background and harmoniously match the iconic big date. This first variant also had appliqué ‘Roman’ numerals, which were later replaced with stick indices. A 39mm diameter also enhanced wearability during a time when 40+mm pieces were the norm.
The A.Lange & Söhne Datograph dial, designed with a series of equilateral triangles - (Image by Langepedia)
In addition to the equilateral triangle formed by the chronograph totalizers and the outsize date, an inverse layout balances the ‘Roman’ numerals at 2, 6, and 10 o’clock with yet another equilateral triangle — this geometry is part of what makes the Datograph dial so visually appealing. The bold look, gothic script, loud lettering, and strong design stood out at the 1999 Basel watch fair in Switzerland. Lange easily demonstrated that it wasn't just a one-hit wonder with the Lange 1, but rather intended to be a real player in the industry and make its presence felt with each succeeding season.
The Movement That Changed It All: L951.1
A.Lange & Söhne Datograph movement Calibre L591.1
Imagine the scene:
A group of legendary Swiss brands, industry executives, and collectors gathered in Switzerland to see the new releases of 1999, only to be confronted with a supersized replica of a German in-house movement in a sea of brands using third-party calibres.
For some context, in 1998 Patek Philippe had released the Reference 5070 based upon a highly customized Lemania 2310, a legendary movement. Impressive and beautiful as this watch is, however, Lange’s ability to deliver a dual-register chronograph with flyback and outsized date complications, powered by an in-house movement, in just a handful of years, was nothing short of incredible. Vacheron Constantin still makes some watches with third-party movements, and it took Audemars Piguet until the late 2000s to produce its first in-house chronograph calibre.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5070J-001 powered by the manually-wound Cal. CH 27-70 (Lemania cal. 2310) - (Image by Vintage Watch Collective)
For old-guard, high-end Swiss brands, what incentive was there to invest in R&D for a new movement? These marques would mostly take third-party calibers such as the Lemania 2310, Valjoux bases, or others, and rearrange and refine these ébauches to add complications, match the finishing standards of the brand, and cater to the demands of their customers. Lange, on the other hand, favored a different approach, feeling that watchmakers needed to take accountability for the full manufacturing process, seeing a timepiece’s creation all the way through from start to finish. This level of oversight and this degree of vertical integration was largely new to the larger watchmaking industry and brought on a paramount shift in the way we think about haute horlogerie.
Many collectors resonated with the approach Lange had taken. They began to respect the fact that Lange had started from scratch to make something special, and perhaps most importantly, they were deeply impressed with the result. Lange didn’t make a basic in-house caliber. Rather, the byproduct of their work— the L951.1, with its distinctly Germanic flavor — was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.
And unlike Swiss brands making slim, elegant watches that necessitate thin movements to preserve trim case lines, Lange was purposefully opting for a bolder look, inspired by Teutonic industrial design and classical horology. This means that the movement Lange presented had a breathtaking depth that was quite new — and distinctly German, rather than Swiss.
A detailed look at the Calibre L951.1's finishing.
Lange also adorned Calibre L951.1 with an array of unique finishing elements specific to Lange and German watchmaking — specifically, Glashütte striping across any substantial bridge structures; golden chatons to house the synthetic jewels of the movement; heat-treated, blued screws; and black-polished details throughout. Of course, as a hallmark of 1999 Lange, the Datograph was finished with a freehand-engraved balance cock topped with a black-polished swan's-neck regulator, plus 36 hours of power reserve.
Walter Lange founded his brand with the professed goal of pairing one movement to each model line, thereby avoiding the creation of modular movements. The build-out of a chronograph movement from the ground up was the first step in the progression towards achieving such unique calibres for its future model families.
Reimagining the Lange Datograph in 2012
DATOGRAPH UP/DOWNin 950 platinum Ref. 405.035 - (Image by A.Lange & Söhne)
While many purists will claim that the initial Reference 403.035 is the ne plus ultra Datograph, others recognize that in 2012, Lange presented a reimagined version — the 405.035 — which, they would argue, possessed a number of objective advantages: The case grew from 39 to 41mm to accommodate the updated internal caliber L951.6, with a longer power reserve of 60 hours and an integrated “up/down” (Ab/ Auf) power reserve indicator. Lange also dropped the Roman numerals as part of a broader overhaul of some of the earlier references to incorporate what were considered more contemporary, reserved designs.
Some of the bolder Germanic details from ‘90s-era Lange were likewise pared back slightly in the early 2000s. Looking at the original Saxonia, for example, next to a more contemporary Saxonia, you’ll note a bit more of a “safe” design approach on the modern references. This may have been Lange’s attempt to broaden its audience by appearing less avant-garde as the brand gained traction. (Also bear in mind that by 2012, Lange was already well-established, and didn’t need to distinguish itself quite as boldly as in 1999, when the brand was still defining its core values and aesthetics.)
Ultimately, which of these two seminal references one prefers comes down to personal taste. While the “Up/Down” possesses a longer power reserve, it’s also larger and thicker, which may irk some people. And while the “Up/Down” has the cleaner dial layout with only stick indices, it’s the smaller, earlier Ref. 403.035 that could have better benefitted from this pared-down aesthetic, as the larger Ref. 405.035 possessed enough dial real estate to allow the mixed ‘Roman’ design to shine. The original 403.035 will always possess a certain romanticism by virtue of having come first, and its dial is certainly idiosyncratic and unique. Ultimately, both are excellent, beautifully made watches from a manufacture that prides itself on producing handmade objects of unparalleled quality.
The Most Important Watch of the Last 30 Years?
Many excellent timepieces have been released in the last few years, and the watch industry looks completely different than it did three decades ago. That being said, the Datograph has played a significant role in popularizing the in-house movement revolution currently in full swing. It shocked the Swiss into forced innovation, causing them to break from their reliance on ébauches and move toward widespread, native calibre development. It often takes a disruptor to push for monumental change, and in this case, said disruptor was Lange.
Collectors are finally waking up to the significance of early Datographs, and we’ve witnessed a real surge in resale value. That said, the “Up/ Down” pieces are priced similarly to earlier pieces, but that likely won’t remain the case for long. Early Datographs are both rare and significant, and as love and appreciation for Lange continues to build steam, we can expect to see prices for various iterations of the 403.035 continue to rise, and perhaps to clear six figures on a regular basis.
A.Lange & Söhne Lange 1815 Flyback Chronograph - IN THE SHOP
If you appreciate the Datograph but are looking for a slightly more accessible point of entry into Lange’s chronograph offerings, we would strongly recommend checking out the 1815 Flyback Chronograph. While this model doesn’t have the outsize date or power reserve indicator of the modern “Up/ Down,” the base calibre is the same as that of the original Datograph, and is beautifully decorated. (If it’s primarily the movement and its significance that has drawn you to the Datograph, the 1815 scratches much of the same itch. Currently, we have a Reference 401.031 in stock at Analog:Shift with a rose gold case and black dial that will knock the socks off even the most jaded collector.)
For its kickstarting of the current in-house movement craze; its considered dial design; its integration of flyback chronograph functionality with an outsize date and, later, a power reserve indicator; and its striking looks, we here at A:S consider the Datograph to be one of the most significant watches of the past 30 years. While Lange has certainly developed its fare share of significantly more complicated timepieces, the Datograph’s effects on the greater watch industry are still felt three decades after the Reference 403.035’s debut — a significant accomplishment, indeed.
