181.038, Little Lange 1, Grey Guilloché Dial, White Gold

This Grey Guilloché dial ref. 181.038 is the quietest member of a loud Little Lange 1 trio. A Lange & Söhne debuted it at SIHH in January 2018 alongside a pink gold, brown-dialed 181.037 and purple 181.039. Eight years on, the grey is widely considered the most Teutonic and adaptable of the three. 

The dial is solid gold, cut with guilloché and finished in a dark grey, a treatment usually reserved for limited editions. Nor is it a trimmed Lange 1 dial: the subdials are full size and sit closer to the edge of the dial. The overall impression is more dense dial-side. Lange’s hallmark of golden ratio proportions remains intact, just in recalibrated package.  

Behind it is the L121.1, Lange’s fiftieth calibre, launched in 2015: 368 parts, 43 jewels, eight gold chatons, 72 hours of reserve, an in-house hairspring on a balance with eccentric poising weights, and a date that jumps instantly at midnight instead of creeping for the better part of an hour. All traditional German finishing standards remain unaltered. At 30.6 by 5.7mm it is a touch wider and thinner than the old calibre L901.0. L121.1 reached the Little Lange 1 only in 2018, which is where the second generation properly began. The original arrived in 1998 at 36.1 mm, aimed largely at Japan and Singapore; the new case is 36.8 mm across and 9.5 mm tall, slimmer than before. 

A 38.5 mm Lange 1 wears a protruding rectangular date pusher; the Little has a recessed corrector that keeps the case flank clean. This difference, in addition to proportions, defines the look of the Little Lange 1 case—which many adore. Lange calls it the only technical difference between the two. A few more things worth knowing: the seconds hand parks at zero when the mainspring runs down. It is a full-on Lange 1 in everything but 1.7 millimetres, prioritizing slighter wrists without compromise. 

This 181.038 presents in exceptional overall condition. Its white gold case bears only light signs of careful wearing, nothing significant to note. The guilloché dial is flawless. Its calibre L121.1 is running well in specification on our timing equipment. Dated 2022, it comes with its original full set. Two straps are included, the black it is photographed on here and the original light grey Lange strap.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.