Among the many permutations of the Lange 1, there are certain references that have struck a chord with collectors. In some cases, that interest is driven by rarity – like the steel reference 101.026, the Dubail limited edition, or the honey gold reference 101.050 – but in the case of others, it’s simply because the design is so perfect.
The reference 101.035, or “Darth” as it’s affectionately nicknamed, falls squarely into the latter category. Introduced in 1999, the reference was produced over a seven year period. Exact production figures are unknown, but I have heard from Lange aficionados that ~300 examples were likely produced, making it significantly more accessible than the rarest Lange 1’s (often produced in <25 pieces). Therefore, the Darth’s pull on collectors is not driven by its scarcity, but rather the faultless execution of the design.
Before we spend time on the Darth itself, however, it’s important to provide some historical context on the Lange 1’s place in the history of A. Lange & Sohne, as well as the watch world more generally.
Historical Context
A. Lange & Sohne was officially re-launched on December 7, 1990, which was exactly 145 years after its original founding. It would take four years, but in 1994, the brand was ready to unveil its first consumer-facing references in nearly 60 years. The first four models (the Arkade, Saxonia, Tourbillon Pour le Mérite, and Lange 1) featured a common design aesthetic, but different case sizes, dial layouts, and complications. Production was very low – 123 examples across all four references – and they were distributed evenly amongst 12 retailers in Switzerland and Germany. The brand’s reintroduction was a quick success, with the Lange 1 becoming the most sought after and important model.
As Jon Bues wrote in Hodinkee’s Reference Points on the Lange 1, “it’s difficult to think of a single watch design that has done more to advance the cause of a modern brand than A. Lange & Sohne’s Lange 1 – and based on its symbolic name, it’s fair to say that…Lange…conceived the model to be the foundation of the brand from the very beginning.” In the eyes of both Lange and collectors, the Lange 1 isn’t just the most visible creation of the brand…it is the brand. And much of that association and importance is due to the brilliance of the design itself.
Upon thoughtful inspection, the Lange 1 seems to inhabit multiple design languages simultaneously. The applied Roman numerals and typography throughout the dial hearkens back to classic dress or pocket watches, while the deconstructed nature of the dial is more commonly associated with progressive independent watchmaking. The combination of those two design elements should be wholly incompatible, but in the case of the Lange 1, it’s so well executed that I don’t even think of it as a “deconstructed” design while looking at it.
The design holds together and seems perfectly at ease, despite the fact that none of the functions or complications overlap or are laid out in a traditional way. It is abstract but also incredibly cohesive and calculated – as the below graphic from A Collected Man shows, the planes of the four displays are perfectly aligned and distributed across the dial, providing all of the required information and also leaving ample room for negative space.
In addition to the elegance of the design itself, Lange’s continued focus on the Lange 1 as the brand’s tentpole has yielded a vast selection of collectible references in various dial colors, metals (including an incredibly rare batch of steel Lange 1’s), and additional complications. The reference has been in continuous production since the brand’s re-birth, and likely will remain as such for as long as Lange exists.
My Lange 1 “Darth”
A. Lange & Sohne was a brand that I had admired from the earliest days of my collecting journey. Interestingly, however, it was not the Lange 1 that was the first Lange I noticed – rather, that honor goes to the Datograph. The Datograph was big, bold, and powered by one of the most stunning movements I’d ever seen. In comparison, the Lange 1 seemed stodgy and a little boring. At the time, Lange 1’s traded well below retail, and for rookie horologists like me, that signaled that they would never be as desirable or important. If Lange 1’s would always be under-appreciated and generally available, why rush to explore them?
In 2018, a friend gave me the opportunity to borrow his yellow gold reference 101.001, the very first Lange 1 reference. Despite its rarity, the 101.001 was almost unknown to casual collectors at the time and traded for ~$20K (a discount to the MSRP of modern Lange 1’s). After wearing and interacting with it for a couple of weeks, I began to understand a bit more about the appeal of the Lange 1, though I didn’t like it enough to rush out and find one for myself immediately.
The watershed moment truly arrived roughly a year later, however, when I grabbed drinks with a friend (@spintransistor) in a dimly lit bar in Chicago’s Loop. He had just purchased the “Darth,” a platinum Lange 1 (reference 101.035) with a black dial and a color matched date wheel. On the wrist, I found it to be wholly different from the early, yellow gold reference that I had borrowed the prior year. For starters, the platinum case seemed like it weighed twice as much as the yellow gold had – it had serious heft that wouldn’t let you forget that you were wearing something special.
Then came the dial – and oh what a dial it is. Stark black with ever-so-subtly contrasting finishes across the sub-dials and rhodium-plated white gold hands that can appear and disappear with the flick of a wrist. It is also one of a few Lange 1’s to have a color matched date window, which creates an even more uniform design than the traditional versions and elevates the Darth as a truly special reference amongst the myriad Lange 1 references that exist.
My love affair with the Darth was kicked off in that dimly-lit bar, but as often happens, life got in the way. My wife was pregnant with our second child and we were contemplating a move out of the city and into a bigger space. As reasonable as Lange 1 prices were, the Darth would have to wait – and why should I rush anyways, it would remain under-appreciated forever, right? Wrong. Very wrong.
Over the next 12 months, Lange began to receive increased attention from collectors and speculators alike. Particularly rare references of the Lange 1 began to increase in value on a weekly basis, and by 2021, a little over a year past the point where I had tried on my friend’s Darth, the going rate had jumped to ~$50K…an increase of almost 100% since 2019.
My attention soon shifted to other limited references – the 101.027 / 191.028 (blue dials) and the 101.030 (grey dial) – but similar market forces were fast at work. Price appreciation for Lange continued at a fever pitch throughout 2021 and into early-2022, and all of a sudden, Darth and its blue dialed counterparts were changing hands for nearly $80K. I began to browse Chrono24 daily out of contempt rather than desire. “How much are these dumb watches trading for today?” I’d sullenly ask myself, while feeling that I’d missed the boat.
After over a year of frustration, I finally took the plunge on a Lange 1 in late-2022 with the purchase of the Lange 1 Tourbillon (reference 704.032). While nothing like the Darth, it seemed to be one of the few pockets of “value” remaining in the Lange 1 range and when I put it on the wrist for the first time, it cemented my belief that A. Lange & Sohne makes the finest serially produced watches in the world. I was hooked on the brand.
I soon added the black 1815 Chronograph (a cousin to Darth), and like any addict, continued to track prices of the reference 101.035 in hopes of eventually adding one. COVID had fueled price increases across nearly all watches, but as the months ticked by, prices began to fall back towards the median, eventually settling in the ~$50K range for full sets.
One day, I received an Instagram message from a collector in Germany who was considering parting with his Darth, which we had discussed in prior years. The watch was in immaculate condition, and interestingly, the papers were signed by a Wempe authorized dealer aboard the M.S. Europa, which was the finest luxury cruise ship in the world at the time.
We were lucky enough to come to an agreement, and before long the Darth was on my wrist, but not as a trophy. Instead, it felt like an overdue course-adjustment to make right the hunch I’d ignored years earlier.
On the wrist, what struck me most wasn’t the weight of the platinum or the sharpness of the black dial (though both were as great as I remembered) but how quickly the Darth disappeared into daily wear. Despite its nearly unworn condition, it didn’t feel delicate and I would find myself instinctually reaching for it each morning or before a multi-day work trip.
Ultimately, the thing I like most about my Darth is how it encapsulates the “buy what you like” mantra, a core tenet of watch collecting. Prices rise and fall and brand speculation comes and goes, but a reference like the 101.035 didn’t build its reputation as a “cult classic” on the back of speculators. It remains one of the best executions of the iconic Lange 1, which is why collectors keep coming back to it. And why, after years of circling it, I finally did too.
