For the recentWatches & Wondersshow in Hong Kong, the German brand has presented its luxury fake A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Automatic Outsize Date three-hander with Lange’s signature big date complication. Limited to just 25 pieces, the watch is equipped with their own in-house movement, which is not only technologically advanced, but also features that high level of craftsmanship that the watchmaking company is known for among true connoisseurs. The mechanism is equipped with a heavily (in all meanings of the word) decorated oscillating weight that looks like a very large micro-rotor. Still, the rotor seems to be not large enough, since the German engineers decided to equip this brake caliper-style device, which is fashioned from 21-carat gold, with an extra “centrifugal mass” made of polished platinum.
The movement in question is the gorgeous caliber Sax-O-Mat L921.4. As usual, the mechanism’s three quarter plate is crafted from untreated “German silver” (let the name of the metal doesn’t full you, since it is just an inexpensive copper alloy with nickel and zinc that give the movement that easily recognizable color with its signature soft glow) and decorated with their own version of vertical Geneva Stripes. Of course, there is also lots of gold and precious micro-screws with polished and blued heads.
The watch itself probably won’t make your jaw drop in wonder: it features the usual shape with relatively thin bezel and hands, and is equipped with the brand’s usual Outsize Date calendar window, which is conveniently placed at 12 o’clock.
Thanks to the use of the said “micro-rotor” design, the German designers managed to make the timepiece quite thin: according to official specifications, the device measures only some 9.7 millimeters top to bottom. It may be not as thin as this Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Automatic in Yellow Gold (Ref. 5940) that the brand’s Swiss-based arch-rival has released back in 2012, but it still offers quite impressive proportions of its neatly crafted rose gold body.
The body looks a little bit too small to my taste. Only 37 millimeters in diameter, it is smaller than previous iterations of the watch and is probably designed with smaller men in mind. Well, given the fact that an average Chinese is about 10 centimeters shorter than an average European, this is only just: the A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Thin rose gold copy watches were designed for the Chinese market, after all.
As usual for the niche, the Saxonia Outsize Date doesn’t have a single drop of Superluminova on its solid silver dial. While the rose gold hands and stick-shaped hour markers (with the traditional double-stick / double-dot index placed at twelve o’clock) together with a nice variety of a railway-track styled chapter ring offer enough legibility in broad daylight, reading the piece after darkness settles may become a problem. Well, on the other hand, in today’s world when digital and analog clocks surround us almost everywhere, this is not really a problem for such a refined piece of horological art.
Photos: A. Lange & Sohne
WWR preliminary verdict:
Originality 5/5
Build quality: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Legibility: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5
A. Lange & Sohne Saxonia Automatic Outsize Date watch specification
Price: TBA, possibly very expensive
Movement: Automatic, Caliber Sax-O-Mat L921.4, micro-rotor oscillating weight, in-house, Made in Germany
Number of jewels: 45
Movement frequency: 21,600 vph
Power reserve: 46 hours
Movement decoration: Balance cock engraved by hand
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, big date
Case material: 18-carat rose gold
Bezel material: Matches case
Crown material: Matches case
Case shape: Round
Bezel shape: Round
Case size: 37.00 mm
Case height: 9.70 mm
Lug width: No data
Dial: Solid silver argente
Numerals: None
Hour markers: Applied, 18-carat gold
Hands: 18-carat gold
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Brown leather strap
Crystal: Sapphire
Case back: Sapphire
In its press release, A. Lange & Sohne replica watch doesn’t say a word about the timekeeper’s price, but something tells me that it will be quite expensive. It will only be available via Lange’s boutiques.