A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar

Born in 1815, Ferdinand Adolph Lange received a rigorous education at the hands of nurses and governesses. At 15 he became a student at the Saxon Technical school in Dresden. Next, he pursued training under Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes, Sr, royal clockmaker to the King of Saxony. In 1846 he and his brother-in-law formed A. Lange & Söhne, which today is known one of the best watchmaking marques in the world. 

Lange’s use of precision tools and instruments allowed the manufacture to attain a level of precision that was heretofore unknown. After his death in 1878, his sons Richard and Emil would carry on his legacy. However, the Soviet occupation of East Germany at the end of the Second World War saw an end to A. Lange & Söhne. Following Reunification in the 1990s, the manufacture made its triumphant return. At the helm of the company was another Lange, Ferdinand’s great-grandson Walter.

The Lange 1815 Chronograph, Lange 1 and the Datograph Flyback are among the gems in the brand’s catalog. But like many other established brands there are overlooked gems in the collection. Maybe it’s because it was simply ahead of its time, or because its symmetry was a diversion from the typical Lange aesthetic, but the A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar took some time to sink in with enthusiasts. Nowadays, it's a certified classic - discontinued and desirable!

Introduced in 2010, the Saxonia Annual Calendar was offered with white gold, pink gold and platinum cases. This example dates to circa 2018 and features a 38.5mm white gold case with a sapphire crystal, signed crown, polished bezel, and four recessed corrector pushers for function adjustments. 

Its matte silver dial features an array of familiar Saxonia design cues, including a set of applied baton indices, an Outsize ‘digital’ date display at 12 o’clock, a moonphase aperture and running seconds display at 6 o’clock, and a pair of calendar subsidiary registers with matching blued-steel hands.

Fitted to a signed black alligator strap with signed 18k white gold pin buckle, the Saxonia AC packs Lange's 476-part, self-winding Calibre L085.1 micro-rotor movement as its power plant —  thankfully visible through a sapphire display caseback. One glance at its magnificent finishing, and you know you're handling a world-class timepiece. Offered with its complete set of boxes, books, and warranty papers, this example remains in excellent condition throughout.

Truly beautiful inside and out, this timepiece is a genuine high-complication masterpiece from the very best Germany has to offer.

For Germany, Reunification represented a renaissance of sorts for a country that had been rent asunder by the Cold War. And for A. Lange & Söhne, whom fate had situated on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain, it was indeed a rebirth.

Lange was founded in Glashütte in 1845, and 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.

But 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 & Söhne nearly faded into obscurity. That is, until 1990, when Walter Lange — great-grandson of the founder, Ferdinand A. Lange — resurrected his family’s old company and brought it to prominence once more.

Armed 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 discovered sketches of a clock that Ferdinand designed with his mentor Johann Gutkaes. Commissioned by the Elector of Saxony for the Semperoper House in Dresden, the “Five Minute Clock” was nothing short of revolutionary.

With 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. Over one hundred years later, it was that clock that would inspire the modern manufacture’s first watch post-Reunification.

In 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 the Lange 1. Without question the firm’s flagship model, it features a big date function as its hallmark. Though found in watches like the Zeitwerk or the Langematik Sax-O-Mat, it’s in the Lange 1 that the big date is used to the greatest effect. Alongside other details such as asymmetrical sub-dials depicting the hours and sub-seconds, and the A. Lange & Söhne signature with its famous ampersand, it shows a clarity of vision that is wholly Lange.

Subsequent models — no less innovative — have only further cemented the brand’s footing as one of the most refined and fascinating watchmakers in business today. From the ludicrously complicated Zeitwerk to the elegant Saxonia to the recent Odysseus dive watch, Lange & Söhne is committed to pushing the horological envelope and reestablishing Germany as foremost amongst the world’s centers of watchmaking innovation.

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Condition

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We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a one-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

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We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.