VIDEO: A closer look at the 2020 A. Lange & Söhne collection, including a more toned Odysseus

Fergus Nash

From A. Lange & Söhne, we’ve learned never to predict what might be next. In this clip from our Watch Fair & Chill coverage of Watches & Wonders 2020, you’ll see exactly what we mean.

When a wristwatch can cost as much as a house or a McLaren supercar, there are a certain amount of bells and whistles you want to see. With the German masters’ Zeitwerk Minute Repeater in white gold, there may not be bells, but you can see the aggressively sculpted hammers striking the snaking gongs in an ingeniously simple way. Instead of ringing the hours, quarters, and minutes like a ‘regular’ minute repeater, A. Lange & Söhne replicate the numerically digital time display with a low gong for hours, followed by double strikes for every 10 minutes, and then single high gongs for the minutes.

Although the Zeitwerk collection has existed for some time now, this limited edition of 30 pieces is a celebration and affirmation of how revolution can still be found in luxury watchmaking.

The second surprise of Lange’s 2020 releases was an adjustment to the controversial Odysseus — their answer to the blue-dialled steel sports watches that have been running away with the ultra-luxury market for decades. It seems that they’ve listened to the haters, though, as the new version does away with the inexplicably awkward-looking steel bracelet and substitutes it with a sleek, black rubber strap, or rugged cocoa-brown leather.

Both of these options feel much more acquainted with the new smoke-grey dial, which has also had alterations made to its decoration. Guilloché where there were once rings, and matte smoothness where there used to be grainy stippling. The use of white gold instead of steel has been a sticking point, though, adding more than $15,000AUD onto the price and taking away some of that sporty practicality.