There’s a certain satisfying balance to “25.” It’s a round number, it’s a fourth of a hundred, it’s got visual symmetry. For what it’s worth, it’s even a prime number. To German watchmaking luminary A. Lange & Söhne, however, it’s got special significance and, in 2024, the modern brand itself is 30 years old but celebrating the quarter-century anniversary of one of its most emblematic models: the Datograph.

It has marked the occasion with two limited-edition watches, and their introduction coincides with the opening of a new San Francisco Salon, a first of its kind in the United States.

Alongside a new configuration of the Up/Down chronograph comes a special, complicated version that might be described as a Datograph “with the works.” We’re talking about not only the model’s definitive combination of outsize date and flyback chronograph complications, but also a perpetual calendar, moonphase and tourbillon. But its complications are only half the story.

All this comes in the brand’s signature Honeygold-alloy case with the movement visible through a smoked sapphire dial peppered with luminescent details. Models with this treatment are labeled “Lumen.” For many collectors, it’ll represent a convergence of elements that make the brand unique and be a grail among grails.

Those elements are best appreciated in the flesh. At the retail salon in San Francisco, you can interact with the brand and many of its remarkable products in the way they deserve. As A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid puts it, “there is no substitute for the experience of holding an A. Lange & Söhne watch in your hands.” We agree, but might even go a step further and say that there’s nothing quite like it.

The A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Datograph Up/Down ref. 405.028

Joining variants of the Datograph Up/Down which feature black dials with options of platinum or pink gold cases, the new limited edition injects further variety and choice to the most essential version of the Datograph. It comes in an 18k white gold case with a deep blue dial and is limited to only 125 examples. In addition to offering a fresh take on the model, it also highlights the Datograph’s place in Lange’s history and catalog.

The Datograph was introduced in 1999, only five years after the brand had launched its first modern watches. This was a time when even many high-end brands were using sourced chronograph movements such as Patek Philippe which finally launched its own in-house chronograph six years later. At the time, few expected the bar to be raised in this manner from a recently relaunched German brand.

A. Lange & Söhne was a secret pleasure for those in the know since its resurrection and debut five years prior, but the Datograph got a lot more people’s attention and helped propel the brand toward its current celebrity status. Its movement’s architecture, finishing and thoughtful features are an inspiration even to today’s most respected independent watchmakers like Philippe Dufour, according to an interview with Wei Koh. The original Datograph featured a flyback chronograph and outsize date (comprising two discs, each displaying a digit in prominent windows), and the 2012 update saw a redesign which introduced a power reserve indicator and the Up/Down name in reference to it.

The outsize date is a Lange signature, featuring on its most representative models such as the Lange 1 and Datograph. And any brand devotee will have noticed that Lange always presents this feature reading “25.” Why? Symmetry doesn’t hurt. But legend has it that when the brand held its launch event on October 24, 1994, all the watches were set to the following day when the press embargo lifted. It’s since become a tradition.

Any multiple of five is a good enough reason for an anniversary celebration but, for Lange, this one is special and will only come once for the Datograph.

A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Datograph Perpetual Honeygold Tourbillon Lumen ref. 740.055FE

Answering the call for an all-out celebration of the Datograph is the complicated new Lumen model. Its descriptive name spells out what makes this watch a heavy hitter: Perpetual. Honeygold. Tourbillon. Lumen. But each of those deserves some unpacking. And together they add up to a halo product from a brand that’s among the most revered modern watchmakers.

Chronographs alone are complicated, and flyback ones even more so. Add to that the outsize date’s over 60 components and you’re already getting pretty Rube-Goldbergian with the features found on even the most basic Datograph. But combining those with what are considered “high complications” like a perpetual calendar as well as a tourbillon which places the balance wheel in a rotating cage? It takes a total of 684 movement components to construct, and it adds up to a serious horological flex.

These features have come together before in the restrained Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, but two things make this watch stand out even more. First is the use of the Honeygold alloy which was first introduced in 2010 and is typically reserved only for highly exclusive models. It’s harder than other gold alloys and, if you haven’t seen it in person, you’ll have to trust us that its paler-than-pink-gold hue is appropriately enchanting.

It’s the Lumen treatment, however, which takes this execution to another level. Lange has applied this concept to only a very limited number of watches. Luminescent dial elements are a feature of sport watches and thus less common among A. Lange & Söhne mostly classical watchmaking repertoire. But the Lumen models are outliers in the brand’s catalog.

Each makes extensive use of luminescent material (“lume”) throughout its dial and, for the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon, it’s inlaid on the hour and minute hands while the chronograph’s central seconds hand is completely coated. The subdials also glow in the dark, as does the tachymeter scale thanks to lume applied beneath it. These glowing elements are especially striking in contrast to the darkly tinted sapphire crystal dial which offers a view of the movement beneath as well as the outsize date’s digits—which are also lumed. The translucent dial not only looks sleek and contemporary but also allows the date display to absorb light and be perfectly legible when it changes at midnight.

A. Lange & Söhne Salon San Francisco

Lange has a limited number of retail locations in the United States, but the newest represents a first of its kind in the country. The San Francisco Salon is intended as an even more elevated and immersive environment than other boutiques with the emphasis on the client’s overall experience. Located in San Francisco’s Union Square, it features boutique-exclusive models and a casual lounge with installations such as an “Experience Library” meant to introduce you not only to Lange’s products but its watchmaking worldview. You’ll also find a lounge, a bar and, very likely, fellow collectors with a shared passion for German watchmaking.

Centrally located on Geary Street in San Francisco’s Union Square the Salon will serve the Bay Area and Northern California. Appointments are encouraged but not required.

140 Geary Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108

A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Datograph Up/Down ref. 405.028 Specs

Movement: A. Lange & Söhne L951.6, manually wound, 60-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, outsized date, flyback chronograph, power reserve indicator
Case: 41mm x 13.1mm, white gold
Dial: Blue
Strap: Alligator, blue
Availability: Limited to 125 examples
Price: On request

A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Datograph Perpetual Honeygold Tourbillon Lumen ref. 740.055FE Specs

Movement: A. Lange & Söhne L952.4, manually wound, 50-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds; tourbillon with stop seconds; flyback chronograph with precisely jumping minute counter; tachymeter scale; perpetual calendar with outsize date, day of week, month, leap year; day/night indicator; moonphase display
Case: 41mm x 14.6mm, Honeygold
Dial: Sapphire crystal
Strap: Alligator, brown
Availability: Limited to 50 examples
Price: On request

Learn more at A. Lange & Söhne’s website here