I’m not the biggest birthday person. I largely subscribe to Patton Oswalt’s take that, once you’re past about 21, if your oncoming age doesn’t end in a ‘0’ (or maybe a ‘5,’ but even that’s a stretch), you can largely skip the celebrations and fuss. That said, I’m always willing to make an exception, and when I learned that A. Lange & Söhne — truly and unreservedly one of my favorite watch brands of all time — was coming to New York City to celebrate its birthday weekend this year, I was excited.
Walter Lange, Günther Blümlein, and Hartmut Knothe at the 1994 launch of the Lange 1, Saxonia, Arkade, and Tourbillon “Pour le Mérite.” Image, courtesy A. Lange & Söhne.
It turns out my excitement was well rewarded: not only did the brand drop what may immediately be my favorite release of 2026, a new Datograph Perpetual, but they also put together a retrospective exhibit that would have thrilled any Lange fan.
They even managed to track down the exact same Soviet-era stacking chairs. These few had to be shipped from Poland, but it was worth getting it right for the photo op.
With a collection that featured everything from antique Lange pocket watches — produced before the company was subsumed by the German state in anticipation of the Second World War — to highly technical modern offerings from the brand, this display, which was hosted in the William Ziegler Mansion (better known today as the Academy Mansion), just a stone’s throw from both Central Park and the A. Lange & Söhne New York Flagship boutique, was one to remember. And for those who didn’t get to swing by, I’m happy to offer a brief glimpse of an exceptional celebration of an exceptional brand.
An A. Lange & Söhne engraver was on location for all to see — and for all to recognize just how incredibly difficult hand engraving a balance cock has to be.
The original Lange releases from 1994.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down
Just a few of the dozens of Lange movements on display.
An early Lange pocket watch offering.
Lange has come a very long way between then and now. The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon “Lumen.”
An oversized, exploded model of a Lange Tourbillon.
Lange watchmakers were on premises to answer any and all questions about what goes into a Lange watch.
Or, in quieter moments, to catch up with one another.
A. Lange & Söhne Langematik Perpetual Honeygold.
An early example of the Lange Saxonia…
…alongside an A. Lange & Söhne Arkade from the same era. You’d not know it to look at them, but these two watches share the same form movement.
Moving on from the earliest days of Lange, we have the Odysseus chronograph, one of the latest additions to the Lange lineup.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon.
Enthusiasts gather to watch an engraver at work.
It’s hard to argue against any Datograph, it’s particularly hard to argue against this Datograph — famously the same model owned by Philippe Dufour, who called the original Datograph caliber the “best chronograph movement ever made.”
Another fantastic Lange chronograph, the 1815 Rattrapante.
And one more for good measure, the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph.
Of course, not every Lange is a chronograph — take, for example, the Lange 1 Time Zone…
…or this. More than just a digital watch for the analogue enthusiast, this is the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Striking Time.
