In 1845 Ferdinand Adolph Lange established his watch manufacture in Dresden. History followed its unpredictable course and, after the Second World War, the company was forced to close. The A. Lange & Söhne name was all but forgotten until 1990, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s great-grandson, Walter Lange, revived the brand. Lange watches returned to the spotlight and the company would ultimately become part of the Richemont group. One constant feature of this somewhat chaotic destiny has been the outsize date indication. This patented display, which shows the date in a large double aperture, was inspired by the five-minute clock inside Dresden’s Semper Opera House, which was inaugurated on April 12, 1841. The clock was built by Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes, whose son-in-law was none other than Ferdinand Adolph Lange. Turning its back on convention, it has neither dial nor hands but instead displays the time on numeral discs framed by two large windows.
A. Lange & Söhne took inspiration from this national treasure to indicate the date on its dials. This remarkably easy-to-read display is so distinctive it has become the lasting symbol of Lange style. The outsize date, as it’s known, first appeared on October 24, 1994 on the dial of the Lange 1 (a model now considered an icon of Saxon design). Never before had a date display been so prominent on a wristwatch dial. The digits, in gold-framed apertures, are around three times larger than those in watches of comparable dimensions.
This innovation not only makes the date more legible; it also simplifies the setting process as the date is adjusted not by the usual crown but with a rapid-correction pusher. The mechanism consists of two separate elements, the units disc and the tens cross, which rotate one above the other. The annular units disc advances once a day, except when switching from the 31st of the month to the 1st of the following month, when it remains immobile for one day. The tens cross advances by one increment every 10 days, except when the 3 is visible in which case it advances after two days, the 30th and the 31st.
Having taken the watch world by surprise when it was introduced in 1994 (30 years ago already!), A. Lange & Söhne’s outsize date is unanimously admired and can even be credited with launching a trend, given the number of prestigious manufactures that now feature a large date display on their dials.
