Terra Brown Dial 380.044 A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Automatik

It’s from Glashütte, so they won’t call it a Havana dial. But, make no mistake, that’s what this is. The 380.044 is a very interesting, somewhat unusual modern Saxonia. It has its imperfections and charms, . . .we’ll get there. But it was part of a revamp of the Saxonia Automatik mid 2016 which included some more lively dials. Yes, brown is flamboyant by German standards. It was made to celebrate the grand reopening of the Tokyo boutique. Tokyo dial actually sounds pretty sexy, but instead the Germans have named it ‘Terra Brown’. Whatever you call it, the tone works.

The Terra Brown was made in white and pink gold. Production was low relative to the blue and grey that shookup the line at the same time. And that wasn’t without reason, the Saxonia Automatik was a slow seller. Why? Usually, those who want a three-hander want a manual. But, in the Saxonia Automatik’s case, they’d addicted their clientele to undiluted Glashütte watching. Then they diluted it. This calibre L086.1 altered the formula slightly, with two big pain points. First, no chatons. Lange does chatons. A Lange without chatons is like a Ferrari without Scuderia shields, it’s just wrong. Then, to hit on something I’m quite sensitive to, the calibre was adapted from the architecture of the 37mm manual Saxonia’s L941.1, doing away with the earlier micro rotor. And in doing so, they wound up with a movement that was, simply, not sized to the new 38.5mm case. For a brand who prides themselves on a bespoke calibre for each model this was a sharing-derived miss.

However, on all objective metrics, this is still a watch far superior to most in its price bracket. And the dial, for outright elegance, sets this apart to most other Langes. It’s half Dufour Simplicity, half FPJ Havana, all lederhosen. There are no real flaws, just uncharacteristic calibre decisions. And the calibre woes haven’t stopped collectors, the ‘Tokyo’ dials have traded just under 50K US recently, compared to the RRP of 25K. A doubling of RRP in 2 years for any modern Saxonia is unusual. So there is a draw here. Therefore, you’re looking at a new kind of Lange: one which impresses most dial-side up. It’s the first Lange designed to be worn the right way around.

This example looks to have a great case with no real issues, deep hallmarks no substantial wear. It comes with its full set as part of Phillips Online Sale, happening currently.