We step into a different world, when we walk through the doors of the A. Lange and Söhne manufactory at Glashütte, in Germany. As we gather around a bust of founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange, we’re given a brief history about the company. 2015 marks the 200th birth anniversary of the founder. Founded on December 7, 1845, A. Lange and Söhne was known for its pocket watches. The company faced hard times, especially during World War II. It was even merged with other watch-making companies and the brand name disappeared from the dials, from 1851 till the reunification of Germany, in 1990. In the same year, his great grandson Walter Lange reestablished the company and today, A. Lange and Söhne is known as one of the few manufacturers that produces and develops its own movements.
Our tour takes us to the new A. Lange and Söhne building, inaugurated on August 26, 2015. It has more space, large atelier windows, almost dust-free conditions and concrete flooring fit for heavy machines.
Watchmakers at A. Lange first undergo internal training to prepare for work in one of the departments and to see what skills they have; this takes several months. They start working in the company after three years and an exam.
Soon we get a glimpse of the long watchmaking process. A wristwatch has 150 to 1,000 tiny components. These components are made by machines, using milling and drilling, and wire-EDM techniques, based on computer programs prepared by the technological department. After the pieces are checked, each component is polished and finished with its own specific type of finissage by hand, in the Finishing Section. We’re told that the watchmakers in this department have different backgrounds—goldsmiths, porcelain handpainters—and go through two years of internal training. A few minutes in this department and you realise that it’s not just a ‘job’ that is being done, but that the manufactory is run on passion and precision.
The balance cock is engraved with the Lange-style floral pattern. Working diligently under a microscope, each engraver has his own style and makes tools to fit his hand. The balance cock can be individualised with a person’s initials, while the solid case-back (instead of a sapphire-crystal one) can be personalised with the portrait of the owner. Depending on the size, it takes between 45 minutes to an hour to engrave the balance cock.
Our next stops are at the First and Second Assembly Departments. Individual components are put together by hand, but even with utmost care, you cannot rule out the possibility
of a component being slightly scratched during the adjustment phase or of tiny dust particles entering the movement. And so, the watches are assembled twice; they are assembled for the first time and adjusted, than disassembled, cleaned and assembled for a second time. We’re told there are two ways of assembling a watch; either the work is shared between different watchmakers for some movements and the watch keeps changing tables, or in the case of more complicated timepieces, they are assembled from beginning to end by one watchmaker.
Highly specialised watchmakers are entrusted with the assembly of complications such as the 66-part Lange outsize date, the perpetual calendar mechanism and chronographs. An extremely elite team is devoted exclusively to the assembly of the tourbillon.
A. Lange and Söhne produces only a few thousand watches yearly and it doesn’t take long to figure out why. I leave Dresden more appreciative of timepieces and what goes into their making.
