Dubail 110.049 A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1

A ref. 110.049—better known as the Dubail—is about to head to auction for the first time in awhile, and that’s a big deal for the Lange 1. It belongs to the Soirée family, introduced in 2001, which gave the Lange 1 a mother-of-pearl dial. Most say the reference was created in 2003, but there is a little bit of variance there. It exists because Dubail, the Parisian retailer, commissioned a colour no one else could sell: a white gold Lange 1 with a darker mother-of-pearl dial carrying a heavy blue cast, described in the trade as a stormy evening sky. Twenty-five were made.

Dubail is worth knowing on its own. Pierre Dubail, trained at the Haute École de Joaillerie and taught gem setting by his father Jean, opened his first boutique-workshop in Paris's 9th arrondissement in 1969. Watches followed in the 1980s, and in 1993 the house took 21 Place Vendôme—the last independent family jeweller on that square. Patrice and Isabelle Dubail joined in the 1990s, with Isabelle running the Vendôme flagship. A house with that kind of standing could ask a young Glashütte manufacture for something exclusive and get it. Few others attempted, barring Italian retailers who asked often but didn’t receive often—according to some reports, at least.

The dial is the raison d'être here. Lange's mother-of-pearl process begins with shell selection by hue, then polishing, CNC cutting to the Lange 1's off-centre layout, and hand finishing for the numerals and detail work. No two are identical: the iridescence comes from light reflecting through the shell's natural layers. The material added 0.6mm, so the movement and case had to change with it. The Soirée uses calibre L901.4 rather than the standard L901.0, and the case measures 38.5mm by 10.4mm rather than the usual 9.8mm.

Twenty-five examples is scarce, though not unrivalled. The 1998 Lange 1A ran to 100; the Japanese "Floral" 112.046 to 25 sets; Oeding-Erdel's engine-turned 112.047 to ten; Tahitian MoP 110.041 ranks to approximately ten; Leon Martens' centenary 101.047 to ten; and one factory-blue steel Lange 1, ref. 101.026X, is unique, selling at Phillips in 2024 for CHF 330,000. In these realms the production numbers really matter, collectors care. But, in easy math, only one of these is a rich dark blue.