INSIGHT: Designing A. Lange & Söhne – part 1, design approach & method
“Money likes silence.” Several years ago, a Russian collector by the name of Nikolai (he prefers not to publish his surname) was telling me why he’s so keen on A. Lange & Söhne, and I was struck by that part of his reply. While he meant it to sum up the ‘stealth’ appeal of Lange’s designs (discreet elegance; the antithesis of vulgarity), it also begged the question: what does make Lange so distinctive? A. Lange & Söhne is not what we think of as a “design brand” (the term suggests something altogether more conspicuous or self-consciously groovy) and yet its design language is not only unmistakable but also an intrinsic part of its being. We live in the Age of Noise: advertising noise, entertainment noise, social media noise – all adding to the general cacophony of daily living. So, given that a Lange watch announces its specialness with a whisper, not a shout, how does it make itself heard? The very quietness of Lange’s design is the answer, I think. A couple of years ago, Paul Tange, a prominent Tokyo-based architect and keen Lange collector, summed up the beauty of Lange’s design to me in the simplest terms: “Aesthetically, the…
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From the first days of my downward spiral into my geeky obsession with horology, the world of the independent watchmakers has always held a warm place in my heart. Even when the Swiss watch industry was filled with doom and gloom, these small passion-fuelled outfits forged ahead, creating new and innovative releases at a time when the big-box brands were doing their best to stay afloat by releasing an endless flood of dial variations and other minor updates. In recent years, this unique microcosm of watchmaking has continued to see growing interest from the collecting and enthusiast community at large, as more and more watch fans develop a taste for high watchmaking that skews a little outside the norm. This year at SIHH I spent an inordinate amount of time in the Carré des Horlogers — the show’s independent watchmaking hub, and my “home away from home”, if you will — to take an in-depth look at what the industry’s more creative minds have cooked up for the new year. Here’s what I uncovered. Richard Mille RM 53-01 Tourbillon Pablo Mac Donough Squeezing Richard Mille onto this list involved a bit of debate, as in terms of market presence and…
Visiting Cartier at SIHH is always an experience. Not only does the floorspace of the maison’s booth outstrip that of any other, but there’s always a sense of effortless cool, matched only by the sort of self-assurance that only comes from having been masters of your craft for a long, long time. Cartier Santos de Cartier Take, for example, the Cartier Santos. The watch, which lays claim to being the first modern wristwatch, was born in 1904, and is wearing its age well. This year, Cartier gave the model some smart, user-friendly upgrades – most notably the QuickSwitch strap changing system. Thankfully, these changes don’t mar the purity of the Santos case, which has received only minor ergonomic updates and subtle changes to the proportions of the bezel. Cartier Santos de Cartier Skeleton Cartier is well known for their skeletonised watches, so it made perfect sense for the Santos to get the stripped-down treatment. Offered in steel and pink gold large versions, this Santos, with its architectural Roman bridges, is an entirely more modern proposition. Cartier Révélation d’une Panthère Watch Seeing this watch for the first time was one of the real ‘wow’ moments of SIHH 2018. An entirely new…