Flirting with an Old Beautiful Lady: The A. Lange & Söhne Langematik. Rated PG-13.

“Me and Mrs Jones, we got a thing going on, we both know that was wrong but it’s much too strong to let it go now…” sang the Canadian crooner Michael Bublé. That’s exactly how I feel about the A. Lange and Söhne’s Langematik. Now here’s my love story. Rated PG-13.

Flirting with an Old Beautiful Lady: The A. Lange & Söhne Langematik. Rated PG-13. Maybe.

Some of our readers must be wondering “Didn’t Chester did a review on the A. Lange and Söhne Langematic in 2016.” Yes, the he did, in fact it is the exact same watch that he reviewed. But I am not doing a review. This is my two-week long love affair with this absolutely gorgeous old lady. A story of how I got my hands on it, how the finest details of the watch made me a lustful man and what’s my thought after returning the watch to her owner.

The meeting

The A. Lange & Sohne was presented to me by our Editor in Chief Peter during an event. We both agreed to swap watches and that’s the beginning of my affair with “Mrs Jones”. Instead of just meeting everyday at the same cafe, “Mrs Jones” was out with me daily almost everywhere and she literally swept me off my feet. Who knew right?

Falling in love: pure sex

So many must be thinking… What about “Mrs Jones” that got me so smitten? Well… First up is the gorgeous platinum case. As I am in my 30s, the appetite of having stainless steel watch diminishes. Though stainless steel is versatile, I crave for metals that has more heft to it but it also needs to be discreet due to the nature of my job.

Continuing on the theme of being discreet, the watch at 37mm diameter and 8mm thin case could easily hide under my double cuff dress shirt. Finally, the brand A. Lange and Söhne. Aside from it being what the “Old Money” would wear, it is a brand that is only known to those who appreciate haute horlogerie. Lange is one of the brands that is next level. Reason? The attention to details that Germany’s finest watchmaker have to offer, especially when we turn the watch over and check out the case back.

When we turn the watch around, oh gosh! It’s a breathtaking sight, a slight that is reserved for the wearer. Think of it this way, it’s how Mrs Jones took her time to pick out her favourite La Perla lingerie just for me and how gobsmacked I was after she removed her little black dress revealing the lingerie in it’s full glory.

The “La Perla lingerie” in this case is the beautifully decorated movement. Firstly, the gorgeous micro rotor. It is a 21K gold rotor that is beautifully engraved in relief. To give the watch a little more torque to wind up the main spring, there is a platinum weight on the outer circumference of the rotor. Well that’s certainly one of the fine details to giving me a “horological hard on”.

Secondly, the hand engraved balance cock (Seriously no pun intended). Every Lange’s hand-engraved balance cock is unique as the engraving is done free hand by an artisan. The swan neck fine adjustment system and the screw balance may be archaic, but it has that old fashioned elegance and beauty. Now, someone please wipe off the drool on my face because it’s so damn stunning.

Spellbound

Finally, the movement is decorated with Glashütte stripes, anglage, perlage and blued screws that is meticulously applied. Now that’s basically soft core porn for all watch aficionados who have a soft spot for gorgeous finishings.

So apart from the aesthetics… What else can “Mrs Jones” offer? Well, on surface Mrs Jone is a simple and elegant lady. Basically she is a time only watch with a petit second. Basically like the girl next door. But wait, once the watch is fully wound, it is time to set the time. And this simple girl next door becomes that sophisticated woman. And again, I fell deeply head over heels! Once you pull the crown out, the petit second hand would reset and point to 60 mark.

A simple, but literally is an amazing feat when the Langematic was released. This zero reset, which Lange calls “SAX-0-MAT” was a world premiere in 1997. It is a complication that I would wish every single watch would have as that OCD in me would lust for. This system enables a perfect synchronisation of time. Every single time. And one which not only saves time (yea, I know it is less than a minute!), but also the anxiety and anticipation after hacking the watch having to wait until 60 second mark to sync with my phone. Fellow OCDs will understand what I mean.

Till this point, I just cannot stop gushing about “Mrs Jones”. It is just me! Like how I cannot shut up about flaunting my girlfriend and telling everyone how amazing she is. That’s the A. Lange & Söhne’s Langematik for me. Instead of just speaking about it, that two weeks “Mrs Jones” was with me, she went with me everywhere. Literally…well almost. She went to my office, my family gatherings and even when running my errands during the weekends. She never fails to impress me, my friends and my family. She remains as a wonderfully nice piece of wrist candy, whether in a suit and even in casuals in shirts, shorts and loafers.

Concluding thoughts

And before I knew it, it is time for us to be leaving… She’ll go her way and I’ll go mine… All I ask is for Lange to start manufacturing a re-edition of this to fulfil my dream of owning one brand new. However, I want to be extra careful, I won’t want to build my hopes up too high…