- A. Lange & Söhne drops a new 34mm 1815 at Watches & Wonders 2025.
- Features a newly developed L152.1 movement with 72-hour power reserve, packed into a case just 6.4mm thick.
- Also available in a larger 38.5mm version with argenté dial and traditional Glashütte finishing for collectors chasing classic proportions.
In 1815, Ferdinand Adolph Lange, the man who founded A. Lange & Söhne and essentially put Glashütte on the map as the spiritual home of German watchmaking, was born.
In the mid-19th century, Lange’s vision was to kickstart an inherently Swiss industry in his hometown, combining engineering discipline with traditional artistry. Think deep-gloss German silver plates, hand-engraved balance cocks, and movements finished like miniature sculptures. While Switzerland is undoubtedly known as the home of luxury, Saxony, the region in eastern Germany (specifically in the town of Glashütte), is all about craftsmanship with a distinctly German edge: less glitz, more grit. And A. Lange & Söhne sits proudly at the top.
A. Lange & Söhne 1815
That enduring legacy lives on in the new 1815, unveiled this week in Geneva’s horological home, Watches & Wonders 2025. Today’s release it’s smaller, smarter, and somehow even more refined than its celebrated predecessors; frankly, it’s the kind of watch only A. Lange & Söhne could build. If you know, you know.
Measuring just 34mm across and 6.4mm thick, it’s a daintier expression than some of the other models we’ve seen throughout the fair this week. The case, available in either white-gold or pink-gold, has been pared back; its features have somehow become sleeker. What’s remarkable is that the German brand has achieved an elegant wristwatch for 2025, without losing any of the substance that makes the 1815 such a cult favourite.
Turn it over and you’ll find the kind of movement architecture that collectors and horologists fantasise about: a hand-engraved balance cock, Glashütte ribbing, gold chatons – the works. You don’t need to understand any of that to appreciate it. But if you do, it’s an even better spectacle.
This is the watchmaker’s 75th calibre since the brand’s resurrection in the 1990s, and it doesn’t disappoint. Manually wound, as German tradition demands, the new L152.1 movement delivers 72 hours of power reserve with a freely oscillating balance spring and an in-house screw balance. All whilst reducing the size of the piece.
A. Lange & Söhne Also Released a Larger Dial
For those after a little more presence on the wrist, the 1815 is also available in a 38.5mm case. It’s still discreet by modern standards, but wears with a quiet confidence that suits the dial’s classic layout: argenté-coloured in solid silver, with blued-steel hands and all the traditional hallmarks of Lange design.
This version runs on the L051.1 calibre: another manually wound movement, this time with the brand’s signature three-quarter plate in untreated German silver and a hand-engraved balance cock anchoring the whole thing in tradition. There’s nothing flashy here. No gimmicks, no openworked dials, no token nods to “modernity.” Just technical prowess, character and an obsessive level of finish that demands our attention. Like everything Lange makes, it’s a piece that rewards repeat wear and a long, pensive stare.
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