'Stealth' 111.025 A. Lange & Söhne Little Lange 1

The 111.025 is a bit of an enigma: short-lived, widely collected, and in production for a flash. Most estimate total production well under 100 pieces. Most early Little Lange 1 references were produced before 2001–2002, and by the early 2000s the brand had halted production of most of them—these pieces proved difficult to sell at the time, an irony given their current standing.

Photography for this Find comes via a prior sale by A Collected Man. Actual example in market linked below. 

The 36mm Little Lange 1 references were introduced in 1998 and primarily intended for the Japanese market and Singapore, where smaller proportions suited both wrists and the prevailing taste of the period. Although the line was aimed at first toward Asia, a meaningful number of pieces were absorbed by German and Italian retailers from remaining Asian stock. Glashütte, smartly, never directed its market toward being a ladies’ piece. This angle was adopted via second-generation releases with gem setting. However, in truth this has always simply been the 36mm Lange 1.

This case is immediately distinguishable from the full-size case for the lack of a pusher. In its place, a corrector. Both the original 101.005/101.025 in platinum and the smaller 111.025 were colloquially the nickname 'Stealth' from collectors, a nod to the hushed quiet silver dial yet platinum case pairing. Inside is the manual-winding caliber L901.0, with 398 components, 54 jewels, five screwed gold chatons, and a 72-hour power reserve—the same movement engineered for the larger Lange 1, here filling the smaller caseback edge to edge. It is, in the end, a faithful miniature: the same hand-finishing, the same German-silver three-quarter plate, the same restraint, simply asked to do more with less wrist.

That experiment was short-lived, which is precisely what makes the 111.025 collectible today. It was in production for only a brief period, with estimates placing the total below one hundred pieces. Most early Little Lange 1 references were produced before 2001–2002, and by the early 2000s the brand had halted production of most of them—these pieces proved difficult to sell at the time, an irony given their current standing.