Datagraph and VIP-focused NorCal store for the first anniversary of the prestigious watch brand A. Lange & Söhne

Wilhelm Schmidt learned long ago that the best way to get a new A. Lange & Söhne watch in a city full of collectors of the famous German luxury watch brand was to have it delivered in person with a strap.

“In today’s world there is no way to send a watch from Geneva immediately. [our headquarters in] From Germany to America and wherever we might need a watch, I carry it on my wrist,” explains Schmid, who has been CEO of A. Lange & Söhne since 2011.

His latest foray into America brought Schmid to San Francisco, where the brand is based. Just opened an intimate boutique. In the city’s famous Union Square district. But anyone looking for a traditional storefront should look beyond the usual retailer views: A. Lange & Söhne’s new 1,539-square-foot salon at 140 Geary St. Located on the third floor – this is still a public space, but one that must be accessed by reservation (the preferred method) or by ringing the doorbell before entering, this concept was by design. .

“It’s not by invitation only, but it’s not designed for on-road traffic,” Schmid explains. “We have quite a few flagships in the US, [but] We wanted to house collectors in and around the Bay Area. It’s about the convenience of an intimate showroom; When you’re there, you really have it all.” The brand also offers a Flagship boutique at South Coast Plaza In Costa Mesa

Dubbed “Salon San Francisco,” the new boutique is actually designed as an elevated lounge space, featuring a curated selection of A. Lange and Söhne timepieces with collector-friendly elements. These include brand history and DNA exposure. “It’s almost like a trip to A. Lange & Söhne, with different highlights and different stories giving you time to explore the whole space and the brand that might be better than yours. [boutique] with foot traffic,” explains Schmid. “When you have an appointment there, you can be sure it’s yours.”

A. Lange & Söhne was founded by Ferdinand Adolf Lange in 1845 in Glashütte, the German city also home to watchmakers including NOMOS and Glashütte Original. The brand was closed in 1948 amid the country’s post-World War II challenges, but in 1990, the founder’s great-grandson, Walter Lange, revived the brand and its coveted status among watchers today. led on the path of Today Schmid admits that A. Lange and Söhne must sometimes negotiate both their origin and date of birth, but always with an eye to the art and craft of watchmaking.

“If we celebrated every birthday, it would be a very full year,” he says. “But we decided to take care. [one model] Because we believe that this is a very important time for us. With that, Schmid revealed the watch on his wrist. Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honey Gold “Lumen”, designed to commemorate the Datagraph’s 25th anniversary and which elegantly combines a minute tourbillon with a perpetual calendar with stop seconds and a flyback chronograph with a jumping minute counter. Schmid says of the piece, “Even in my fantasies I would struggle to find a more complex datograph.

That 41.5mm honey gold case, with a luminescent display surrounding a semi-transparent dial, was also expressly designed for this anniversary piece. “[Honeygold] is a metal that changes color all the time from white gold to rose gold,” Schmid notes. “I wouldn’t necessarily wear a gold watch, but it’s perfect because it changes color and works for many occasions.” Oh Datagraph model in white gold with blue dialMeanwhile, the collectors were designed with that in mind: “We don’t work with color a lot – and when we do, it’s gray – so it’s something that we as collectors have been asking for for a long time,” he adds. The Honey Gold and White Gold models are limited to 50 and 125 pieces, respectively, and are priced upon request.

The brand seems truly committed to adhering to its long-standing principles, from allocating a limited number of handcrafted pieces each year to how A. Lange & Söhne traditionally red carpet placements. Deny. “We have a very strict policy: anyone who wears our watch is either an employee, or has bought it,” Schmid says of the latter. “If you produce watches at the level and price point that we do, how do you explain that some people get paid just to wear a watch? I don’t think it’s for us.”

Ultimately, anyone who wants to wear A. Lange & Söhne must demonstrate a certain commitment and history with the brand — not just because Schmid says collectors remain a priority, but also because He wants to avoid the urge to turn back a coveted clock. open market.

High-profile names who collect and wear A. Lange & Sohne include Ed Sheeran, Michael Jordan, President Bill Clinton, Luke Combs, Elton John and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lowry.

“How do you date someone?” Schmidt asks. “You meet, you do business together, you go to dinner together. We just want to make sure we don’t fuel the gray market. [of timepiece flippers]. We do not have the capacity to meet the demand in the market, and this has been accepted by our collectors. But that acceptance will disappear if they can’t find the clock, but they can find it in the clock. [secondary] Gray market at a premium.”

In other words, any watch fan who is in tune with his passion should be successful. “We treat everyone fairly and equally,” Schmid says. “We’re not a company that just wants to sell. We just want to make sure [A. Lange & Söhne watches] Go to the collectors.”