A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Ref: 191.039 Review

How are we doing watch afficionados? Hope all is well with you all. Its been a while since my 1st review of the Rolex YM40, and so, my 2nd review contribution will be for my Lange 1, Ref 191.039. Here it goes:

Abit about me in case you hadn't read my 1st review, but in a nutshell, laid off from work a while back, thought it would be a brilliant idea to celebrate (?) my new found freedom with a rose gold Rolex. A couple months on, still unemployed, my 39th Birthday approaches and I accidentally find myself in a Lange boutique (don't remember how), leading me to make another highly questionable, perhaps even financially catastrophic decision (again, YOLO and all that). I urge you, please do not take any financial advice from me, but I do love watches so at the very least I hope that my passion for watches is felt!

Background: Right so, look, I'm not gonna go into all the history of the Lange 1. Its not because I don't know about it, or I don't care. Far from it, I respect it deeply. Its just that there are a myriad of videos, articles about this all over the place and I think for me to make a more unique contribution to the hobby, what matters more are my opinions and thoughts. Having said that let me summarise some key points about the Lange 1 that I found interesting:

• The Lange 1 was designed by Reinhard Meis who was an instrumental maestro in the watchmaking industry. If you're interested in horological history, you should read this article. He's also responsible for other iconic designs such as the IWC Portuguese Chronograph.

• The "team" behind the watch was an all-star team in itself. Leading the team was Günter Blümlein, the afromentioned Reinhard Meis, even Kurt Klaus was assisting the technical side with watch makers from JLC also involved.

• The outsize date movement was designed by Roger Guignard who was at Jaeger LeCoultre at the time and the base movement was also from JLC, the calibre 822, which was reworked by Helmut Gaia.

Design: Ok, so on to the watch itself. Firstly, why did I go for the white gold variant? Simple answer is, since I already own a rose gold watch in the form of the YM40, I wanted something more low-key and with a white dial. I didn't want to treat the Lange 1 as merely a dress watch but more of a casual dress watch that I can wear with sweatshirts or jeans. This particular reference the 191.039 achieves this with the addition of lume on the hands, one of very few reference in the Lange 1 line up to have it. This helps in making the watch that ever so slightly more sporty. You will often see me wearing very casual clothing, brands like Stone Island, Maison Margiela, Lululemon to name a few and the Lange 1 performs admirably in blending in with casual sport-chic styles. I don't even own a suit at this point in my life but if I had to wear a suit, Im 100% confident that the Lange will more than hold its own.

Ergonomics: What makes this watch so hard to put down for me, are its perfect dimensions. Starting off with the dimensions, its 38.5mm, arguably the golden size for men's watches in my humblest opinion. With a thinness of just 9.8mm and the all important lug to lug of 47mm, it has enough presence to feel modern and solid, but not overwhelming or fighting for attention. No matter what your wrist size, trust me, this watch will look good on your wrist.

Movement: I'm not gonna delve into the accuracy of the movement or anything like that because, well look at it! One of the sweetest thing about owning a Lange time piece is that beautiful view from the back. I'll let the pictures do the talking but for the movement nerds, the base movement specs: (Caliber L121.1, 438 parts, 72 hours of power reserve, 21,600 bph, 43 jewels, 30.6mm). All made with the sweet hue of German silver. Also important to note that Lange are one of the very few brands to use "gold chatons" to hold the rubies in place, instead of the more convention "adhesive" that is used. Kudos for Lange to sticking with tradition there.

Buckle: I admit its abit of an odd choice to have a separate section on the buckle but hear me out. I think Lange have one of the nicest selection of buckles and deployant buckles in the business. Whilst many watches will have a fairly standard buckle, the Lange ones just feels more "well thought out" and robust. It definitely has a degree of heft to them and looks masculine, which I like. The deployant clasp for me, is truly satisfying to operate and the "Clack!" that you get from closing it is as satisfying as closing the door of a high end German sport car.

Conclusion: At the end of the day, given its price point, it would be irresponsible for me to blindly recommend anyone to "just go and get it!". After-all, there are a plethora of options both new and used at this sort of price point not to mention excellent alternatives like the Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119G or Vacheron Constantine Traditionelle, both magnificent watches for sure. Rather, I feel the Lange 1 is the sort of watch somebody can step into after owning a few Rolex watches, or a couple of sport models from Patek or Vacheron for example. The reason why I say this is because had I gotten a Lange 1 earlier on in my watch journey, I probably wouldn't have appreciated what I love about it to this degree. Its only after I experienced a few brands, that I'm seriously able to notice all the various intricacies of such a watch. In addition, the Lange 1, whether we like it or not is not a main-stream brand or design. Its not symmetrical and does not look like a conventional dress watch. The good thing is that if anyone was looking for something abit more classic, you can always choose the yellow gold version of the Lange 1 which I feel is the most old school and classic version of this series. Furthermore, whilst in the past 2 years or so, we have seen a surge in watch interest and prices climb to astronomical levels, I feel it is my obligation here to point out that unlike your Rolex, Patek sport watches, you WILL get hit with depreciation if you buy most Lange new and decide to move it on. I bought mine new since I know what I'm getting but if you have doubts, take your time or shop around and you will find good deals. Luckily for everyone though, its a watch that is fairly readily available at most Lange boutiques so take your time with your decision.

Anyway, thank you for reading and again, any questions or comments are always welcome.