Precision, Winter 2021

One of the most covetable watches to appear this year was a beautifully nuanced chronograph with a white gold case and a pink gold dial with contrasting, dark brown subdials. The only downside was that it couldn’t be bought – because this particular example of German maker A Lange and Söhne’s exquisite 1815 chronograph was reserved for the winner of the 2021 Concorso d’ Eleganza Villa d’Este, the automotive extravaganza held on the shore of Italy’s Lake Como that many regard as the finest event of its type in Europe, and possibly the world.

Followers of the Concorso will know that the best-in show award – and therefore the Lange chronograph – this year went to American collector Brian Ross, whose superbly presented 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France attracted the highest number of votes from both the expert panel and the public.

The watch featured a hinged ‘cuvette’ or case back that was engraved with the title of the event, its coat of arms and both the current year and the year of its founding. Opening it revealed a secondary, sapphire crystal back through which could be seen an example of the superb hand-wound column wheel movements that make the watches of A Lange and Söhne so special. Offering a flyback chronograph function, a precisely ‘jumping’ minute counter and 60 hours of power reserve, the mechanism comprises 306 individual parts and 34 jewels contained by plates and bridges made from untreated German silver – and every bit of the extensive decoration was executed purely by hand.

A Lange and Söhne – or ‘Lange’ as watch types like to call it – has backed the Concorso since 2012, making this year’s edition the 10th time that it has presented a watch to the winner (back in 2013, fashion mogul Ralph Lauren walked off with the prize after his £31m 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic took the top spot).

Although the brand has no historical automotive links, it came to be associated with the Concorso and other top-drawer car shows such as the UK’s Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court and Germany’s Schloss Dyck Classic Days due to its CEO, Wilhelm Schmid, being a lifelong car fanatic with a particular love for classics.

The son of a garage proprietor and the former head of sales and marketing for BMW South Africa, Schmid – who has held the reins at Lange since 2011 – is a ‘car guy’ through and through and counts among his stable of classics a 1954 Frazer Nash, an exquisite Bristol-engined AC Ace, a Lancia Flaminia GT 3C, an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark III and a Series II Land Rover. Oh, and an MGB roadster that he’s owned for 40 years.

But speaking to Motor Sport on the Concorso’s opening day, Schmid was quick to point out that he had no intention of following the path of many other brands by taking Lange deeper into the car world as a sponsor of higher-profile events.

“I don’t want A Lange and Söhne to be associated with cars specifically, only with concours events,” he explained. “The thinking behind it is that concours cars and our watches have a unifying thread in that they are handmade, mechanical masterpieces with great history behind them –I suppose you could say they are not just watches or cars, they are artworks, and people who appreciate one tend to appreciate the other. So backing The Concorso d’Eleganza and the Concours of Elegance is probably sufficient for us – the majority of our budget we spend on development.”

It’s a considered attitude that certainly seems to be working, since demand for Lange watches – around 6000 or which are produced each year – is currently at an all-time high. Pre-owned pieces, too, have soared in value, with examples of the Tourbillon Pour Le Mérite produced after the firm’s post-reunification revival in 1994 now commanding £300,000-plus at auction against a 1990s price of £58,000.

But if you really hanker after an 1815 Chronograph on which the Concorso d’Eleganza prize was based, you can buy a ‘regular’ version in white gold for around £51,000. Not cheap, but probably a wise investment.

alange-soehne.com