A. Lange & Söhne 1815 watches

The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 takes its name from the year Ferdinand Adolph Lange was born; he founded his pocket-watch workshop in Glashütte in 1845. It is the brand's classic line. The time-only 1815 appeared in 1995 in a 36 mm case, and its dial follows Lange's historical pocket watches: Arabic numerals, a railway-track minute scale, club-shaped markers at the quarters and small seconds at 6 o'clock.

The plain three-hand watch is the heart of the range. Larger 38.5 and 40 mm versions use the L051.1, which runs for 55 hours. The Up/Down adds a power-reserve display, and the Annual Calendar pairs one with its calendar. The 1815 Thin Honeygold, made in 175 pieces to mark 175 years since Lange set up in Glashütte, is a 38 mm case just 6.3 mm thick around the hand-wound L093.1, which stores up to 72 hours. Honeygold is an 18k alloy developed for Lange and harder than other gold alloys.

The 1815 Chronograph is a 39.5 mm hand-wound flyback with a column wheel and a jumping minute counter; its L951.5 runs for 60 hours. Pulsometer versions carry a scale graduated from 40 to 200 for reading a heart rate. Some white-gold chronographs were set with diamonds and given mother-of-pearl dials.

The 1815 Homage to Walter Lange honours the founder's great-grandson, who restored the company. Its 40.5 mm case holds the hand-wound L1924, named for his birth year, with a jumping seconds hand operated by a pusher at 2 o'clock. Lange made 145 in white gold, 90 in pink gold, 27 in yellow gold and a single steel piece, sold at Phillips for charity. Above these sit the tourbillons, the prize-winning Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar, the Tourbograph Perpetual and a 50 mm Grand Complication with a minute repeater.