The Lange 1 was one of the 4 original models present in the 1994 rebirth of A. Lange & Söhne. It quickly emerged as the foundation of the brand's early catalogue, largely due to its embodiment of Günter Blümlein’s overarching design philosophy that guided the brand’s renaissance: to set itself apart from the Swiss dominated market through embracing unapologetic German design principles. Even at first glance, these Teutonic principles are immediately apparent: it is refined, understated, and mathematically perfect. The Lange 1 serves as a counterexample to those who argue beauty is found in chaos; its asymmetric dial design has been precisely engineered to follow the golden ratio and rule of thirds, placing dial features on the points of an isosceles triangle. While the Lange 1 is undeniably the core of A. Lange & Söhne today, the blue dial has always been reserved for rare and significant occasions.
‘Prussian’ blue holds special significance within German culture as it was discovered accidentally by a German painter and became the first ever chemically produced blue pigment. The Prussian King chose this color, framed in gold, for its highest military award, the Pour Le Mérite. Noting its significance to German history, Blümlein intentionally established the ‘Prussian’ blue dial as desirable by initially limiting its use to just their most complicated offering, the Tourbillon Pour Le Mérite, so named for the Prussian award. Since this initial offering, Lange has maintained the exclusivity of the blue dial through small production releases, one in 1997 and another in 2017. This 2017 191.028 is one of only 3 Lange 1 blue dial references, alongside the 101.027 in white gold and 101.028 in yellow.
The 191.028 was released as a part of Lange’s ‘Blue Series’ in 2017 along with blue dial variants of the Lange 1 Daymatic, Saxonia, and Saxonia Automatic. It is believed to have only been produced for a single year. While it is a clear descendent of the 101.027, there are a few tells that allow the trained eye to quickly distinguish the two. The 198.028 has a flatter bezel, thinner typeface on the dial, and sharper corners on the white gold date aperture frame. Its upgraded 368-component calibre L121.1 provides a jumping date, moved the balance to the crown side of the case, and features a solid ¾ plate rather than the islands present on the 101.027’s calibre L901.0.
The Lange 1 is the foundation of the modern Lange range. Its design is unapologetically German: minimalist, beautiful, calculated. It perfectly captures Blümlein’s vision for modern Lange, with the weight of a Mercedes door and exacting manufacturing precision. The 191.028, however, marks a celebration of Lange’s second generation Lange 1 introduction, elevated by sparing use of ‘Prussian’ blue. However, in keeping with its heritage, the celebration is exercised with such subtlety, restraint, and grace that only those with a trained eye will notice.
