A. Lange & Söhne make some of the finest watches, and this Saxonia Langematik is considered one of their masterpieces. Model reference 308.027
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Sadly we do not have the paperwork for this watch, but the Saxonia line was introduced in 1994 in a 33.9 mm case. In 1997 they were upgraded and started using the movement in this watch, and increased the case size to 37mm. In 2007 they change subtle details in the dial design that this watch doesn’t have. So this watch much have been made between 1997 and 2007.
CONDITION
A. Lange & Söhne have achieved the seemingly impossible in a short time. Despite the roots of the company going back to 1815, it was only after the cold war was over and Germany’s reunification happened in 1990 did Walter Lange, great grandson of the founder, begin to rebuild the business from scratch after it was nationalised as part of East Germany in 1945. You can read more about their story here. Many people now consider there watches to be in the absolute upper tier of watchmaking, and they believed this too – this watch was over $3,000 more than an automatic Patek Philippe Calatrava in 2007. Setting that price takes confidence from the makers.
Rather than us praise this particular model, we are going to let others more qualified do that. Walter Lange himself wore this model in yellow gold as his daily watch, and the dedicated brand website Langepedia name the movement as the A. Lange & Söhne movement to own.
On this particular watch we feel very lucky to have, the gold case shows a few light scratches as it has not been polished. Unlike the 34mm earlier watches, this one has an exhibition caseback revealing the phenomenal movement. Dominated by the 3/4 automatic rotor, which is made of 21k yellow gold and tipped with platinum, everything is exquisitely finished. This is calibre L921.2, also known as the Sax-0-Mat. The reason for that name is because the movement was for the Saxonia range, is Automatic and the middle part is for zero as when you pull the crown out the seconds hack and move to sixty or zero – we talk about this in the video. The movement also has the oversized date at twelve, which A. Lange & Söhne patented in 1992 and is a prominent design feature of many of their watches. It can be quick set with the pusher at 10. Everything is working beautifully. The buckle is the original 18k white gold item, the strap is a A. Lange & Söhne one with plenty of life in it and we have a new, unused A. Lange & Söhne strap to go with this watch too.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 39.7 mm
Width without crown 37.0 mm
Between lugs 19 mm
Lug to lug length 44.5 mm
Case Thickness 9.9 mm
All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.
Included with this watch is a 6 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.