The prestigious Saxon watch manufacture A. Lange & Söhne has been run by Wilhelm Schmid since January 2011. Born in 1963, he is a German national and holds a diploma in Business Administration. Before joining the watchmaking world, Wilhelm Schmid held senior positions in a number of different domains, with Burmah Oil Germany (Burmah-Castrol) from 1989 to 2002 in sales, marketing and management, and with BMW AG from 2002 to 2010 in sales and marketing. A. Lange & Söhne, which was restored in 1990 after German reunification, launched its first contemporary designs in 1994, notably the famous Lange 1, the first wristwatch to feature a big date. The brand joined the Richemont group in 2000, at the same time as IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre, which like Lange were previously members of LMH (Les Manufactures Horlogères).
