701.007 A. Lange & Söhne Pour le Mérite Tourbillon

Finds. With all that’s come since, it’s easy to overlook that this is unquestionably the original über-Lange. A moonshot project imagined but a few days after the Berlin wall fell, this was the watch was to prove to the Swiss that this ragtag German upstart should be taken seriously. Blümlein and crew knew, obviously, they could not just equal Swiss complications. They had to innovate, and they did—with the world’s first fusee and chain wristwatch (and Tourbillon) in the Pour le Mérite Tourbillon. Despite its reserved demeanor, its calibre L902.0 comprises 953 components. Consider that the original Datograph is at 405.

Photography for this Find comes via prior sale from Phillips (below) and A Collected Man (elsewhere). 

Much of that complication is in the chain itself, a complication whose development was outsourced to Renaud & Papi where two young brothers by the name of Grönefeld tackled the problem. Connecting the links was so difficult that a new technique had to be invented: inserting tiny pieces of paper to keep alignment, then burning the paper. But then there’s a separate blocking mechanics to prevent unwinding which stops the seconds at precisely 0 every time. And a planetary gear system inside the fusée to keep power flowing from the mainspring while winding. Despite a relatively modest appearance, this is a technical masterclass.

The Pour le Mérite Tourbillon was audacious and defiant in scope, inspiring in execution. As such, it has come to form a pinnacle of Lange collecting—in part due to the rarity (which was from production challenges and not artificial). Across all metals, 200 examples were made. There are 106 in yellow gold (ref. 701.001/751.001), 19 in white gold (701.007), 24 in pink gold (701.011), 50 in platinum (701.005), and 1 in steel. Interestingly, it is only the pink gold examples and just a few piece uniques which feature faceted diamond-shaped indices instead of Arabic numerals (which all other dials feature). This is the first 701.007 to auction for some time, from the original owner circa 1998. All PLMs are marvelous things—and the PLM shorthand without suffix or prefix really does deserve to be reserved for these initial pieces. The Pour le Mérite Tourbillon, more than any other model, captures the audacious attitude that defined early Lange

This example is coming to auction in a few days from the original owner, which one doesn't see a ton. The case appears as one would hope, quite strong overall. Remember at this stage in Lange pre-1999 the shape of the lug bevel and step in near the case junction were a bit different to begin with. Should be a fun one to watch.