A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Daymatic Tokyo Boutique Birthday Edition

When it comes to limited editions by A. Lange & Söhne, you know it’s going to be rare, you know it is not a common trick used by the brand and you know it will end up being highly collectable. If, in addition to that, the watch looks as beautiful as the one we have today, what not to love… 10 years ago, the Saxon brand opened its Ginza-based boutique, in the heart of the world’s largest city: Tokyo. To celebrate this, here is the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Daymatic Tokyo Boutique Birthday Edition.

The Lange 1 Daymatic is the mirror image of the iconic Lange 1, the most representative model of the collection, created in 1994 – it was part of the 4 watches that were launched when the brand was revived. The Lange 1 Daymatic is not just the visual opposite of the Lange 1, it also adds features and shows technical differences. First and foremost, this watch is automatic when the “standard” Lange 1 is hand-wound. Don’t believe that the Daymatic is just adding a rotor over the movement, it actually has an entirely different calibre – Lange’s development team never do it simply.

The movement, of course visible through the caseback and decorated in the pure Saxon way, is quite a complex one. No less than 426 parts, 7 screwed gold chatons, an engraved oscillating weight, an in-house balance spring with excellent chronometric results, 50h of power reserve… Not only is superbly decorated but it is also desirable technically-speaking.

In terms of design, the Lange 1 Daymatic is, as said, a mirror image of the Lange 1. Indications are quite close, yet all of them are positioned in an opposite way. The off-centered hours and minutes are on the right side of the dial (at 3 o’clock) making it a practical business watch – only the time sub-dial can be seen when the watch is under your cuff. The patented outsize date, a mandatory feature of this collection, is positioned at 11 o’clock and the usual power reserve found on the Lange 1 is here replaced by a practical indication of the day-of-the-week – shown in a retrograde way.

Moving to today’s matters, the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Daymatic Tokyo Boutique Birthday Edition celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Japanese boutique in an elegant and refined way. Based on the same 39.5mm white gold case as the rest of the Daymatic collection, this 20-piece limited edition has a different dial. The solid gold plate, with argenté finish, is guilloched with a concentric wave pattern. Combined with it are blued steel hands and white gold appliques. To remain consistent with this silver/blue colour scheme, the numerals of the outsize date display and the inscriptions on the dial are printed in blue to match the hue of the hands. The consistent colour concept continues in a dark-blue alligator leather strap with solid white-gold prong buckle.

The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Daymatic Tokyo Boutique Birthday Edition will be available only at Lange’s Tokyo boutique and in a limited run of 20 watches. Price: to be confirmed. More details on www.alange-soehne.com.