This move is characteristic of A. Lange & Söhne: measured yet determined. Without attracting exaggerated media attention, the Glashütte manufacture has nonetheless revealed the opening of five boutiques within five months. More precisely, three are already operational, while two additional locations have been announced for the coming weeks.
London outside Europe but an unavoidable hub
The London boutique is the most telling example. It is both the earliest announced in this series, revealed on December 1, and the most recent, as its official inauguration only took place on March 4. This represents a significant step forward in a country where the watch trade can be challenging. The situation is particularly evident in London, where watch exports have fallen by 6.3%, according to the latest figures from the Swiss Watch Industry Federation (FH).
In addition, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union, which has considerably complicated exchanges with the roughly 450 million European citizens who typically travel with a simple identity card and make purchases using the same currency, the euro. Despite this, the UK remains a major air travel hub, welcoming more than 20 million tourists each year, and continues to host the City, one of the world’s leading financial centers. Capitalizing on these opportunities will be the task of the new retail director recently recruited by A. Lange & Söhne, Alexandre Baudouin, former Roger Dubuis, who will now oversee the French and British markets.
These are all factors that convinced A. Lange & Söhne to open its first and only official boutique in London. Another boutique, located a few miles away and operated by Harrods, continues to exist for the time being. However, the new official boutique in Mayfair spans four floors and will need to be supplied with a certain number of watches drawn from the global allocation reserved for the United Kingdom.
“The opening of our new premises in London is also a special moment for us because of our historical ties with the city, which played a decisive role in the brand’s international success in the mid-nineteenth century: in 1851, Ferdinand Adolph Lange presented his watches at the Great Exhibition in London,” also emphasized Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid.
Singapore: a long-awaited renovation
In Singapore, the announcement regarding the official boutique was made on December 2 last year, just one day after the London announcement. In reality, however, this location has simply undergone a renovation. After opening in 2012, it had already been refurbished once before, in 2019.
At first glance, the context of this renovation might appear similar, as Singapore is also a major regional hub. Yet the underlying reason is different: the city-state has always had only this single point of sale. As a result, it must remain at the highest standard, especially since the only other boutique in the region is located in Bangkok, some 1,800 km to the north. Singapore is therefore not merely a local boutique, it serves as a regional crossroads.
Chicago: improving coverage of the the United States
Then comes the case of Chicago, where the rationale is again different. The goal is to fill the vast diagonal stretching from New York City on the East Coast to San Francisco on the West Coast. Until now, along this axis of more than 4,000 km, A. Lange & Söhne had only one boutique: Aspen. Although the resort is prestigious, it remains isolated in the heart of Colorado. Chicago provides a far more central location, capable of serving a much wider area. The manufacture’s strategy here is therefore to establish a denser network across a territory with extremely broad borders. This move had become necessary. With currently nine points of sale, the United States remained the weak link in the brand’s commercial distribution, well behind Asia (20) and Europe (14). Yet the American continent still recorded growth of 5% in 2024, according to the FH. This represents an opportunity that cannot be ignored as the industry enters a year 2026 that promises to be more challenging.
Finally, the European network will soon be reinforced with the upcoming opening of a boutique in Monaco. For now, clients in the region must travel to Milan, while Lisbon currently only hosts an outsourced point of sale.
