The Return of a Masterpiece
After being lost in the chaos following WWII's conclusion, one of the most renowned and expensive pocket watches ever made by A. Lange & Söhne was recently returned to its original home at the Museum Bautzen. The historic Glashütte manufactory only produced a handful of tourbillons, one of which was housed in an artistically decorated gold hunting box with an enamelled picture of the goddess Minerva. Emil Lange's "centennial tourbillon" watch, reference number 41000, debuted at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.
The pocket watch No. 41000 from 1900 is an important piece in the history of A. Lange & Söhne since it is known as the "centennial tourbillon." In 1892, production of tourbillons at the facility got underway. Between 1892 and 1925, twelve tourbillons were recorded in Martin Huber's classic reference work Die Lange Liste (Eng. The Lange List), which details all of the manufactory's difficult pocket clocks beginning in 1866. Just nine of them had proof that their products were actually delivered. Number 41000 is a stunning example and a technological marvel. It has a fusée-and-chain gearbox and a tourbillon that runs for one minute. In addition, it has Lange's signature up/down power reserve indication.
During its reestablishment in 1990, this exceptional watch served as inspiration for Walter Lange and Günter Blümlein to create the TOURBILLON "Pour le Mérite." The watch was revolutionary because it was the first time the manufactory had successfully combined modern watchmaking complexity into a wristwatch size. By doing so, A. Lange & Söhne demonstrated that it once again stands at the forefront of precision timepiece production. The TOURBILLON "Pour le Mérite" has been one of the most intriguing wristwatches in the world since its debut in 1994. It consistently fetches record prices at auction and is highly sought after by collectors.
In 1900, the pocket watch No. 41000 was shipped to the Saxon court jeweller Paul Thimig in Dresden. Thimig then sold the timepiece to Otto Weigang, proprietor of a printing firm in Bautzen, for 1,500 gold marks. The businessman became acquainted with the erstwhile A. Lange & Söhne manufactory through his connections to the industry and his collection of valuable pocket watches. Very high-quality advertising materials for several Saxon manufactories were printed in his chromolithographic art institution. Before the watch was shipped out, the second-generation sole owner of the firm since 1887, Emil Lange, brought it to Paris to show off to the international jury he had been selected to serve on for the 1900 World's Fair.
Emil Lange presumably had the watch luxuriously furnished because of this. Artistic carvings in a Neo-Renaissance style adorned the platinum-plated gold case. The miniature of Minerva, the Roman goddess of knowledge, is depicted in polychrome enamel and stands next to a globe on the front. The olive branch in the patron saint of merchants, artisans, and artists' left hand and the laurel wreath in her right hand stand for faith in the triumph of peace through economic and scientific growth. There's a subtle allusion to why this particular timepiece was made in the backdrop. In the "Quai des Nations," today called the Quai d'Orsay, it is easy to make out the rows of national pavilions set up specifically for the world's fair. In this illustration, a sun rising over the ocean symbolically denotes the beginning of the 20th century. As Emil Lange was a member of the jury, he couldn't display the timepiece during the competition itself, but he did so thereafter, when it received much praise from industry insiders. In 1902, he was honoured as a Knight of the French Legion of Honour for his service on the jury and his groundbreaking contributions to the watch industry.
The Museum Bautzen acquired the centenary tourbillon and the rest of Otto Weigang's collection of art and pocket watches after his death in 1914. The valuable clock vanished from a 1945 exterior storage facility where certain items had been stored to protect them from bombing. Then, it disappeared from public view until 1976, when it was included in Martin Huber's renowned special display of remarkable Lange pocket watches. "I owe a great debt of gratitude to Martin Huber, who curated this show. He was instrumental in reviving interest in and recognition of the Lange brand among people who still treasure high-quality mechanical timepieces," explained Walter Lange following the 1990 revamp.
Several auctions have since been held for pocket watch No. 41000. Unfortunately, Sotheby's London auction scheduled for the spring of 2019 was cancelled. Due to its exceptional cultural and historical significance, the municipality of Bautzen approached the auction house and agreed to purchase the watch back. “100 years it was first donated, the watch is now coming back to Bautzen,” said the then Lord Mayor Alexander Ahrens during the ceremony in June 2022: “This is a piece of Saxony’s industrial history, a piece of Bautzen’s history.”
Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid is delighted about the positive twist in the story: “The return of the centennial tourbillon to the Museum Bautzen’s collection finally makes this unique example of Saxon precision watchmaking accessible to the public again and gives it the attention it deserves. Technically, artistically and in terms of craftsmanship, this watch has set benchmarks and contributed significantly to the historical reputation of A. Lange & Söhne. It is the same standard of technical perfection and supreme craftsmanship with which we continue to develop and manufacture our timepieces today.”
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