Passion for Classics
Words and pictures for A. Lange & Söhne, published in Openhouse magazine Issue Nr. 9
A. Lange & Söhne alange-soehne.com
The melody that a roaring engine can create, paired to the steady beat of a watch movement is considered by many as the best symphony. Whether in steel or gold, the time that has been taken to design that perfect body, connects classic cars and watches to become one part of the other.
In Belgium, on the outskirts of Brussels, in a garage hidden under a house, one can find beautiful racing greens, light blues and deep dark greys, as if they were buried, like a best kept secret, or a treasure, gathered and put together over time. Jean Pierre is driven by a feeling he developed over the years, a process in which he has learnt to appreciate the beauty in objects, a passion gift- ed from his grandfather to his father, and now he shares with his own son. Speculation never made its way to their residence, every single addition was made to balance the previous one rather than increase the value of the collec- tion, giving birth to the challenge of finding the next piece to fit in, every time, over and over again.
Few objects bring together excellence from the fields of art and science the way that cars and watches do. It is the human factor behind the mechanical object collectors treasure the most. They admire not only the innovation and craftsmanship but also the design and beauty. The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph offers the best of both worlds. It is the perfect choice for purists in search of a quintessential stopwatch that pairs an irresistibly beautiful movement with a well-balanced dial layout. A peripheral pulsometer scale measures the heartbeats and shows in beats per minute how thrilled a driver can be when racing through the countryside behind the steering wheel of one of the first Austin-Healey 100 cars ever built in 1954.
What is considered the art of designing an object of desire, is characterized by the soul they acquire when made by hand. At the very moment the poetry in the ideas that make the design are grasped and added, and it surely is what itches every aficionado’s feelings when he finds beauty to add to his collection. It almost feels as if the craftsmen, who are behind the positioning of the Arabic numerals, their ingenuity and the precision they show, which allows to display, the time with the resolution of one fifth of a second, are transforming the feelings for the owner into a physical creation.