Am I the only who feels that this thread should be moved to the “High end watches” section???
May be our esteemed moderators could help out... please!!

 

It's hard ask - I would probably go for Journe; the watches have more warmth and approachability, and the movements are incredibly beautiful.

Points for ALS though: very durable and robust, while colder, incredible design language, impeccable movement finishing. I just always feel underwhelmed when hold one; they just don't feel 'me'.

As always, a personal choice though. When made honestly and authentically, you can't make a wrong decision.

 

You’re very correct.

And you pointed out one thing that I absolutely love about Lange: that durable feel. These things feel like they can stop a bullet. Part of the reason why I went in this direction:

 

That is a stunner! The Richard Lange collection is amazing (as are the 1815 chronograph and Dato lines). Those three collections are always worth a deep consideration and opening of the wallet.

 

Thank you for your kind words.

To me, this boutique edition white gold Richard Lange with those exquisite blue hands is just spectacular. Elegant simplicity, beautifully executed.

The only other Lange that I would want now would be the Zeitwerk, which is at the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum.

 

which Zeitwerk?

my two favorites are the first edition white gold / black dial and then of course the Lumen.........

 

That is a perfect watch.

 

I actually prefer rose gold. Very classical looking metal/dial combo that contrasts interestingly with the steam punk design

 

Have you handled on before? It is a very different winding experience from your RL. The effort required to wind is significantly higher and Lange properly has a larger crown

 

Old-school Journe with 38mm cases

 

I also prefer the 38mm cases but that means older Journe watches and the problem with older Journe watches is Journe QA has never been that high so you have a much greater chance of having to have the Journe watch sent back multiple times to get the issue taken care of

 

I will bet you that the parts in a Lange watch you dont see, are finish to exactly the same standard as the parts you see. There is no cost cutting with ALS

 

Well yes, there is. Not to burst any bubbles here, but these mass produced brands don't do things the way some of the higher quality independents do. For example the "stripes" on these movements are clearly made using an abrasive paper disk on a spindle, and hefty amounts of material is been removed as a result (you can clearly see it in the photos). This is very different to how for example PP does their very high end pieces, or someone like Dufour. These are not large production, but are still "mass produced" in many ways.

 

does it matter from a functional or aesthetic perspective that more material is removed?

 

i have read prior in numerous places that Lange is more consistent in their finishing on their entry level pieces and their higher end pieces versus Patek where the lower end pieces do not have as good finishing.

Do you see that Archer when the watches go your way?

 

Fortunately I've owned both Patek and Lange. After a"few" Patek's I tried a Lange 1815 then an 1815 Up and Down. My Up and Down was as good or even better than it gets for the bucks. If you're thinking of buying a Patek you owe it to your self to at least look at a Lange.

 

Functional? No not really. Aesthetic? Yes, if you know what to look for, you can't "unsee" it when it's there.

Not picking on anyone's watch here (it's a lovely watch as an overall package, and one that I would be happy to own), but just to illustrate the point from one of the above photos...


The most perfectly executed stripes are done in a way that the stripes can be seen, but if you were to rub your finger across them, the surface would feel perfectly flat. That is how Mr. Dufour executes his Côtes de Genève for example. Here there are very obvious peaks and troughs made in the material, so it is a sure sign of the manner in which this was done. This goes to the idea that ALS takes no short cuts - this is most certainly a short cut in the sense that doing these using the traditional methods is very time comsuming, and requires detailed set-ups of the angles on the machine that Mr. Dufour uses. He charges the ebony cupped disk with abrasive powder and lavender oil, and manually moves the work under the spindle so that the eveness of the circular marks in the finish are directly impacted by how evenly he moves the work. It's not completely by "hand" but there is an element of hand work involved that takes time and dedication to master.

These are made on an automated machine that indexes the work for each stripe, and moves the work under the spindle (that again has some abrasive paper attached to it) using a slide and ball screw - only hand work is loading and unodaing the parts. The result still looks good, but again it can be distinguished by the physical waves created from the rather severe angles used between the spindle and work. This is a common method of finishing watch bridges with Côtes de Genève, and can be found from ALS to JLC, all the way down to the ETA 6497's I buy in bulk for a couple of hundred dollars each.



There are a number of ways to make these stripes, but at the highest level of work, they are very fine and they are just on the surface.

Cheers, Al

 

It's no uncommon for brands to finish watches differently at different levels. You won't find the same hand polished anglage on the lower end watches that you may find on the higher end pieces from the same brand. I can't speak to the consistency of the finish with ALS specifically.