A. Lange & Söhne Power Reserve (fantasy)

[dlgates]

(These are old photo reviews rescued from the original RWG site; I didn't want them to get lost forever! Old hands will already have seen them; some newbies might be interested.-- Dave)

A. Lange & Söhne Power Reserve (fantasy)

Received 26th November 2004 from Efren

SS; diameter 41 mm; off-white face with guilloche

A bit of a story behind this watch... Efren had a single copy of what was called a "Sax-O-Mat" (although the correct name is Langematik) and I missed being able to purchase it. He watched for some weeks to see if he could locate another copy for me but was told the rep was no longer being made. His supplier told him that instead there was a new model Sax-O-Mat just available for the first time, a new model not yet seen, with a power reserve indicator. Naturally I told Efren I wanted the watch. When it was pictured on Offers, naturally those with astute eyes noticed that the caseback said "Swiss Made" and "Geneve" although A. Lange & Söhne is from Germany and the caseback should have said "Glashütte Sachsen". Efren immediately offered to take the watch back (or rather not send it to me at all), because he felt embarrassed he had not looked at the caseback carefully and realized the major error. I insisted I wanted to keep it regardless, because L&S reps are so difficult to find, even inaccurate ones, and besides, the face said "Made in Germany" as it should. (Later, by the way, I bought the no-longer-produced "Sax-O-Mat" Langematic from Andrew, and it has its own photo review in this section of the forum.)

The power reserve indicator is indeed functional, as is the one on the Jaeger Lecoultre Master Reserve de Marché that I reviewed just yesterday. It measures up to 40 hours, although I have found that the watch runs down when the indicator reaches somewhere around 5.

The L&S trademark two-window "large date" is not as large as it should be on a correct L&S watch, but it functions correctly and is operated by a flush pusher at 2 o'clock. The major error on the face itself is "Chronograph Automatic", when quite obviously this is not a chronograph at all. Few people will notice that, however.

Here is the incorrect caseback, with correct information on the rotor but not on the surround of the display crystal.

Fantasy or not, it is definitely in the spirit of A. Lange & Söhne, and we can only hope that one of these days some rep maker will actually come out with something that satisfies collectors' cravings (everyone wants a Lange 1!). I find the watch very attractive, and when I change that awful reddish strap for a dark rouille croc or gator, the watch will then be quite beautiful.

And finally, on the wrist...

THE END

Thanks for looking!

Dave

[Alextor]

Nice looking watch! congratulations, can you please let me know how to contact Efren? is there a webpage?

[SubFrog]

I'm pretty sure Efren is not in the business right now. He used to be one of my primary dealers, but that was a long while ago. If you find anything out other than this, please let me know...I'd like to talk with him again.

[robertk]

Nice looking watch! congratulations, can you please let me know how to contact Efren? is there a webpage?

This is an old review that Dave has reposted on this forum. Unfortunately Efren isn't around anymore. check Narikaa, joshua, andrew and paul.