Historical Perspectives The New Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar In Platinum And A Brief History Of Platinum At Lange

It is, as Ben once wrote of the original black-and-platinum Datograph, "pure sex." This is what makes the new Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in platinum so quintessentially Lange. After Lange introduced the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar in 2020 in pink and white gold, the collection has come into its own.

The origin of the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar dates to 2012, when Lange introduced the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon. It was a statement watch in the world of high-end horology with a $300,000-plus price tag to match. As a personal aside, I remember seeing the white gold version around the time it was released in 2016, and being blown away by this supercar of a watch, but feeling like it was one of the few of this genre I could actually wear. A totally subdued supercar, if there is such a thing, with just a simple "Tourbillon" on the dial hinting at the souped-up engine inside. In very Lange fashion, even on the caseback side, the tourbillon is largely hidden under hand-engraved bridges.

With that background, the Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar warmly in 2020. As Langepedia explains, designers had first tried to adapt a perpetual calendar mechanism to the Lange 1 design in the early 2000s but had trouble fitting the complications into the Lange 1's layout while still honoring its steadfast application of the golden ratio and separating each indication. There was also the matter of switching that big date display at the end of each month.

The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar starts with a mirrored layout of the original Lange 1 (kind of like Heuer flipping the winding crown on the caliber 11 to signify its first auto-winding chronograph). This is inspired by the Daymatic, the first automatic model in the Lange 1 collection. The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar added a month ring around the dial's periphery. This keeps the center of the dial at 38.5mm, making it the same diameter and proportion as the original Lange 1's case. This peripheral month ring then switches the date indications, replacing the typical QP design where the month is controlled by a 48-step cam (i.e., one for every month of a four-year leap cycle).

The other indications fit seamlessly into the Lange 1's design thanks to the caliber L021.3. The movement has a few other things you'd expect from Lange: German silver plates and bridges, gold chatons held by blue-steel screws, and that hand-engraved balance cock. Reason enough to stay up until midnight, the calendar indications have an instantaneous switch, something that Anthony de Haas, Lange's long-time Director of Product Development, insisted on.

The platinum Lange 1 is listed as "price on request," and I expect it's a reasonable premium over the original 2020 prices of the pink gold ($104,500) and white gold ($116,000) models. Like many brands, Lange has increased its prices a few times since 2020. The new Perpetual Calendar (ref. 345.036 E) isn't a limited edition, but it won't be easy to get. Like many other recent Lange releases, it's also a boutique exclusive.

No matter the price, it's a beautiful combination of what was already a knock-out perpetual calendar execution. But because it's not every year Lange brings us a new black dial in a platinum case, I wanted to zoom out on the history of the pairing at Lange for just a moment to emphasize its importance.

"[This watch] hold part of the genetic code to what would become known as the Darth," writes Anders B. Kiertzner on Langepedia.

Lange's sensible German aesthetic works perfectly with the heft of platinum. In a way, it feels like the only metal that can stand up to all of the watchmaking that happens inside a Lange. 

In 1999, Lange brought the black dial to the Lange 1, introducing the "Darth" ref. 101.035, the yin to the monochromatic silver "Stealth's" yang (ref. 101.025). Lange produced the Darth for just seven years, and while the black-and-platinum mix was novel for Lange when it introduced the Darth, it proliferated across its collection soon after. The Little Lange 1, Arkade, Cabaret, and more all got the blacked-out treatment.

But the "Darth" Lange 1 didn't stop at platinum. Of the couple dozen or so steel Lange 1s – the true grails of Lange collecting – three feature a similar all-black dial. We showed you the first one to come to a public auction here (where it eventually sold for $233,000).

While it had silver subdials, Lange also used the platinum-and-black formula to introduce the original Datograph (ref. 403.035) in 1999, its in-house chronograph that put the Swiss watch industry on notice.

After this, Anders on Langepedia theorizes that Lange saturated the market a bit with all those Darth-like watches, so it discontinued the Darth Lange 1 and many of its other platinum-and-black watches and didn't bring the all-black configuration back to its public catalog until 2014. And it brought it back with a bang, leaving no doubt about how Lange feels about the importance of pairing black with platinum.

First came the Little Lange 1, which featured an all-black guilloche dial – guilloche is a rarity from Lange and a subtle reference to the first Lange 1 limited edition from 1998. After that came the Lange 1 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst, which features a luscious black enamel dial. "Handwerkskunst" translates to craftsmanship, and it's not a term Lange throws around lightly (see also here and here). Introduced to celebrate Lange's 20th anniversary, we wrote at the time, "Everything about this addition is a classic."

The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar now joins the Datograph Up/Down as the only black dial, platinum case in Lange's standard collection.

"In my opinion, the Darth [Lange 1] should not be praised for its scarce availability, its aesthetic badassery, or the fact that we will never see one in regular production again," Langepedia writes of the original Darth L1. "Instead, it should be celebrated and scrutinized because of its position and subsequent impact on the canon of A. Lange & Söhne. True greatness is often characterized by the lack of awareness of itself, and the Lange 1 Darth was right there, readily available, hiding in plain sight."

Now, I'd argue the "Darth" Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar will hold a similar status in Lange's catalog. Beautiful and badass, no doubt, but more importantly, an impressive piece of watchmaking that, once you look deeper, tells the entire story of one of the best modern manufacturers.