A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase Watch Review
The A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is housed in an 18-carat white gold case measuring 36.8 mm in diameter. The dial includes various indications set against a blue backdrop enlivened with dark-blue gold flux. Prospective purchasers are indulged with two case options, one equipped with a diamond-set bezel and one sans gems. Both references feature a hand-wound movement, the calibre L121.2, made to the brand’s legendary exalted standards.
Every day I receive press releases from watch brands announcing the launch of yet another new timepiece. Horophiles have never had it so good. Indeed, they are spoilt for choice with numerous creations vying for their affections. Nevertheless, there is a definite skew in favour of mens’ watches with fewer feminine novelties entering the marketplace.
Now, as a meat-loving, working-class, Lancastrian, I am probably not your typical feminist, however, I have felt for some time that female watch aficionados are let down by the watch industry as a whole. While many ladies’ watches are beautifully designed, there seems a widespread assumption that most women yearn for an inert quartz movement in favour of a refined mechanical calibre. Sadly, finissage and complications are primarily the preserve of mens’ watches. Perhaps it is for this reason that many ladies choose to wear a man’s watch in order to fulfil their horological desires.
Thankfully, there are some companies that strive to satisfy the requirements of female watch aficionados. For example, the new A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase sidesteps any patronising gender-based nonsense. It is unequivocally a ladies’ timepiece, blessed with a prepossessing face but infused with a high quotient of mechanical know-how.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the name Lange was revived. The company’s initial collection included the Saxon, the Tourbillon ‘Pour le Mérite, the Arkade and the Lange 1. The latter watch has since become the face of the brand, courtesy of its asymmetric dial layout and the ‘Lange outsize date’. The idea of using two apertures to frame the date was inspired by the Five Minute Clock, located in the Semperoper, the prestigious opera house in Dresden, just 30kms from the brand’s Manufactory in Glashütte.
The Lange 1 gave rise to the Grand Lange 1 and thereafter, a myriad of other variants, some endowed with a moon-phase display, time-zone mechanism, perpetual calendar or tourbillon. However, despite these models being mechanically more complex, their dials remained uncluttered and highly intelligible.
The A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is housed in a 36.8 mm, 18-carat white gold case. The dial is formed of solid silver and suffused with shimmering dark-blue gold flux, while sparkling inclusions within the dial membrane evoke thoughts of nocturnal skies.
Beyond the model’s bewitching complexion, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase upholds much of the design language found on the inaugural Lange 1. An off-centre hour and minute display are positioned to the left side of the display, an outsize date resides at 1 o’clock, a power-reserve is located adjacent to the crown and a small seconds display dwells in the south-easterly region of the dial. Everything is attractive and eminently legible.
Where the A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase differs from its aforementioned big brother is that the date is presented on two blue toned discs, matching the dialscape, while the diamond-shaped indices found on the Lange 1 are supplanted by sparkling stars. But the single biggest difference is the addition of a moon phase indication, nestling neatly within the small seconds display. This poetic depiction of a silver-hued moon is truly exquisite.
The Lange manufacture calibre L121.2 sits at the heart of the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase. The movement is endowed with a three-quarter plate, gold chatons, engraved balance cock and über-refined finishing.
Would-be wearers can select the A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase with or without diamonds, however, irrespective of which model is selected, discerning clients can be rest assured, few ladies’ watches can surpass this wonderful creation from Glashütte.
A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1 Moon Phase – the brand’s press release
Thousands of tiny stars seem to sparkle on the dark-blue dial of the LITTLE LANGE 1 MOON PHASE in its white-gold case. It is coated with dark-blue gold flux that shimmers with a copper hue. A white-gold moon accurately orbits along its course beneath the iconic Lange outsize date. In a second version, a bezel set with 56 brilliant-cut diamonds creates a radiant frame for the fascinating dial.
The fascination of a bright moonlit night is the motif of the new LITTLE LANGE 1 MOON PHASE. Its eye-catcher is the solid-silver dial coated with shimmering dark-blue gold flux; the sparkling copper particles evoke a starry nocturnal sky. The applied Roman numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock as well as the star-shaped hour markers between them are crafted from rhodiumed gold just like the hands. The dark hue of the dial is echoed by the outsize date and the white-gold lunar disc with its 628 stars. A dark-blue, shiny leather strap with sparkling pigments and a solid white-gold buckle complement the elegant appearance of the watch. In the second version, 56 brilliant-cut diamonds adorn the bezel of the white-gold case with a diameter of 36.8 millimetres.
The elegant combination of aesthetic appeal and precision in a watch is demonstrated by the LITTLE LANGE 1 MOON PHASE with a moon-phase display calculated to remain accurate for 122.6 years. Only after this short eternity, the deviation from the synodic lunar cycle would add up to one day, provided the watch runs without interruption for that duration. More realistically, a correction might be necessary occasionally if the watch remains unwound for an extended period of time. The corrector between 7 and 8 o’clock allows the display to be updated quickly and easily, however. A corrector that is also recessed in the case between 10 and 11 o’clock advances the outsize date day by day.
With the configuration of an off-centre dial layout, the outsize date, the power-reserve indicator, the twin mainspring barrel, and a three-day movement, the LITTLE LANGE 1 MOON PHASE has all of the technical features of the LANGE 1, arguably the best-known face of the eminent Saxon manufactory. The typical manifestations of Lange watchmaking artistry, such as the three-quarter plate in German silver decorated with Glashütte ribbing, the hand-engraved balance cock, and the gold chatons secured with cornflower-blue steel screws can be admired through the sapphire-crystal caseback. Assembled twice, the artisanally immaculate timepiece is a true gem of a watch.