Haute Timepieces: A. Lange & Sohne Grande Lange 1 Luminous Watch

By Ariel Adams May 10, 2010

Many watch owners take for granted their luminant watch dial; though this component is typically a standard feature on timepieces, many classic luxury timepieces do not possess this luminescent ingredient. So, no, your typical high-end watch will not glow in the dark. Not, that is, until the debut of the Grande Lange 1 Luminous watch. In the ‘tradition inspired’ world of the German watchmaker, contemporary conveniences like the luminant feature is a rare find on their beautiful watch dials. In fact, only a handful of their watches have ever offered glow in the dark hands, and the Grande Lange 1 may be only the second Lange 1 style watch to showcase this quality.

A few years back, A. Lange & Sohne released the Lange 1 for Night Owls watch. The name referred to the fact that the dial could be seen in the dark—presumably at night. The Grande Lange 1 Luminous is offered in a larger case (hence, ‘Grande’) at 41.9-mm wide in gold, with a much more refined dial. The Lange 1 Night Owl merely featured the basic addition of some Super-LumiNova luminant to the hands, as lume dots around the dial. On the other hand, the Grande Lange 1 Luminous features a design totally dedicated to the theme. Here the hand and hour markers are more deeply filled with the luminant against a beautifully contrasted black dial. Inspiration for the new piece comes directly from the Lange Zeitwerk Luminous—another popular limited edition model that first made use of the “Luminous” moniker for the brand.

Finally, the Grande Lange 1 collection gets a more visible look with a healthy amount of luminant all over the dial. The 18-karat white gold hands feature a strong filling of luminant, while the hour markers are completely fitted in luminant—the luminant is applied so thickly that the hour markers are raised off of the dial. The subsidiary seconds hand is thoroughly covered in Super-LumiNova. The palette of black, white, white gold, and ‘lume’ green gives the dial a retro look.

Contained within the watch is an in-house made in Germany A. Lange & Sohne Calibre L901.2 manually wound movement. Meticulously tested and decorated, movements such as this are a pinnacle of German watchmaking. It features a 72-hour power reserve with power reserve indicator on the dial, an off-centered watch dial, overlapping subsidiary seconds dial, and an “out-size” big date indicator window. Beautifully arranged on one of haute horology’s most distinctive looking watch dials. Priced at $32,900. www.alange-soehne.com.

Ariel Adams is the Haute Living Watch Editor and also publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.