The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is a women’s watch with all the prestige of A. Lange & Söhne’s watchmaking sophistication. It mixes feminine grace with the fascination of a hand-wound movement. It follows the 2016 Lange 1 moon phase, which is 1.7 mm larger, and basically a men’s watch. Unlike that watch, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase doesn’t have the day/night display incorporated in the moon phase, and it is a little slimmer. The pink gold case is 36.8 mm in diameter and 9.5 mm thick, and the solid gold dial with argenté silver finish is beautifully guillochéd. The big date is a classic Lange feature, but in this piece it rather clashes with the feminine aspects. It’s a bit as if Manet had painted a credit card in the foreground of his picture A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. But it’s a lovely piece all the same.
Dial
The exquisite guilloché ties everything together on this dial where there is a lot going on, from the brand name and location at the top, and the Doppelfederhaus script at the bottom, a reference to the twin mainspring barrels. The power reserve indicator on the right takes up a fair portion of the dial, directly opposite the eccentric dial for the hour and minutes. The moon phase display has two gold moons against an argenté backdrop, along with the continuous seconds hand. Hands and appliqués are in pink gold matching the case and the pin buckle, on a strap in white alligator.
Movement
The hand-wound L 121.2 movement is based on a calibre introduced in the Lange 1 in 2015. The view through the sapphire caseback is enchanting. The large balance, running at 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hertz) is regulated by cam weights. The characteristic whiplash spring with lateral screw is used for beat adjustment. The balance spring is made in-house, and the balance cock is hand-engraved. The three-quarter plate in untreated German silver is decorated with Glashütte stripes, and has a lovely constellation of gold chatons, rubies, and blued screws.
Technical sophistication
The big date jumps instantaneously at each date change at midnight. The moon phase display is far more accurate than those on most women’s watches: it is precise to one day’s deviation every 122.6 years. The movement has a large number of components – 411 – and jewels, 44. It has the stop-seconds function so that the seconds hand stops when you pull out the crown to the time-adjustment position. The date display can be adjusted quickly using a button on the caseband, and there is a recessed pusher for correcting the moon phase display.
Price and reference
The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase by A. Lange & Söhne is reference 182.030, and it costs €38,500, inclusive of VAT. More from the A. Lange & Söhne website.
