Sammler-Uhren
A. Lange & Söhne U-Boat luminous dial B-Uhr Cal. 48 Kriegsmarine WK2
A. Lange & Söhne U-Boat luminous dial B-Uhr Cal. 48 Kriegsmarine WK2
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Absolute rarity and museum-worthy military watch collector’s item:
Lange & Söhne Glashütte U-Boat special edition "Up / Down" observation watch of the Kriegsmarine with luminous dial
Original Caliber 48 "Up/Down" observation watches by Lange & Söhne with (apparently) this dial are offered in abundance on eBay and elsewhere for around 3,000 euros
The Kriegsmarine had ordered this type of watch with a luminous dial only for submarine use
In total, Lange & Söhne delivered only 5,072 Model B-Uhr Caliber 48 watches to the Kriegsmarine. Assuming that each of the Kriegsmarine's 1,162 submarines carried one of these models with a luminous dial (since the thousands of other warships also needed them...)
One can therefore expect approximately 1,100 examples ever produced – one for each submarine – with luminous dials. Considering that 67.5% of all German submarines – and thus their "luminous dial" examples – were sunk and destroyed, only 358 examples could have survived World War II.
After a certain loss due to loss in inheritance, disposal due to ignorance, etc. in the last 80 years, it can be assumed that today a maximum of 300 pieces of this museum artifact of military watch history still exist worldwide.
The museum-quality artifact in this offer is the rarest military watch from Lange & Söhne from World War II!
Description:
Large submarine observation watch by A. Lange & Söhne with luminous dial, No. 203780
Case diameter: 60mm, metal case, back cover numbered 203780, dust cover engraved (see photos)
Movement: A.Lange & Söhne Caliber 48 No: 203780 Completed: A.Lange & Söhne Glashütte", lever movement with swan-neck fine adjustment
U-boat version with fluorescent dial, power reserve indicator and decentralized second hand, blued steel hands, working, including wooden box, very rare collector's watch
This magnificent piece of (military) watch history runs continuously (accuracy not tested)
EZ: 2 little noticeable signs of age and wear, dial unrestored in excellent condition, high-precision movement sparkling clean, all lids close tightly and flush, the magnificent artifact starts and runs
History of the best German watch manufacturer "Lange&Söhne" Glashütte (Source: Wikipedia):
A. Lange & Söhne
| Lange Uhren GmbH | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Legal form | Limited liability company |
| Founding | 1845 / 1990 |
| seat | Glassworks ,  Germany
|
| Line | Wilhelm Schmid |
| Number of employees | 750 (worldwide) |
| Industry | watch manufacturer |
A. Lange & Söhne is now the registered trademark of the German watch manufacturer Lange Uhren GmbH from Glashütte , Saxony . Lange Uhren GmbH, in turn, belongs to the Richemont Group.
History
From 1845
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On December 7, 1845, the Saxon watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange , a student and son-in-law of the Saxon court watchmaker Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes senior , founded the watch manufactory "A. Lange & Cie." in Glashütte near Dresden. In an early example of state structural policy, Lange received 7,800 thalers as financial assistance from the Royal Saxon Ministry of the Interior in the form of a loan for the founding of the company and for the training of 15 apprentices in the structurally weak town of Glashütte near Dresden. The company struggled for a long time with initial difficulties, but by 1875 the company had over 70 employees. Ferdinand Adolph Lange thus gave impetus to the development of the structurally weak town in the Saxon Ore Mountains as a center of German precision watchmaking and in competition with the established Swiss manufacturers. Ferdinand Adolf Lange's two eldest sons, Richard and Emil Lange , joined their father's company in 1868, which was subsequently renamed "A. Lange & Söhne." Under the direction of Lange's sons, the manufactory achieved worldwide fame.
The company M. Stellmann, founded in Hanover in 1886, immediately became the main branch of the company from Glashütte. [2]
A. Lange & Söhne existed for exactly 103 years until 1948, when the company was expropriated by the Soviet occupying forces. Until then, Emil Lange's sons, Otto, Rudolf, and Gerhard, steered the company's fortunes. More than 30 watch patents were issued under Ferdinand Adolf Lange and his descendants.
Until 1877, the company name and brand name "A. Lange & Söhne" were identical. In 1877, a second, somewhat simplified pocket watch series appeared under the brand name "Deutsche Uhrenfabrikation." From this point on, A. Lange & Söhne owned two renowned watch brands. Later, "OLIW" (Original Lange Internationales Werk) was added as a third brand, marking the first step into industrial pocket watch production. The company missed the trend toward wristwatches; until 1945, wristwatches primarily used purchased movements of Swiss origin. It wasn't until after 1945 that the first and—until the company was refounded in 1990—only Lange wristwatch movement (caliber 28) was developed.
Development since the 1950s
During the Soviet occupation from 1945 and from 1949 in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), seven remaining watch factories and suppliers located in Glashütte were nationalized and merged in 1951 to form the state-owned enterprise VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB).
Rudolf Lange's two sons and great-grandchildren of Ferdinand Adolph Lange (I), Ferdinand Adolph Lange (II) (1922–1989) and Walter Lange (1924–2017), fled to western Germany. Ferdinand Adolph (II) founded the watch factory "A. Lange Pforzheim" in Würm near Pforzheim and managed its business. Here, watches were manufactured using purchased German and Swiss movements. The company existed until 1987. Walter Lange worked at the company as workshop manager and later moved into the jewelry industry.
After German reunification in 1993, the Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH emerged from the state-owned enterprise GUB as the direct successor to the VEB.
New company
On December 7, 1990 – exactly 145 years to the day after its founding by his great-grandfather – Walter Lange founded "Lange Uhren GmbH" as a new watch manufacturer at the age of 66. He then acquired the trademark rights for "A. Lange & Söhne," which had initially been transferred to the state-owned GUB (Stately Owned Enterprise) as a result of Soviet expropriation and, after reunification, temporarily to the Treuhandanstalt ( Treuhand Agency). While there is no direct legal company history, "Lange Uhren GmbH" continues the history of this venerable watch brand. The brand's resurgence is thanks to Günter Blümlein, then President of the International Watch Company (IWC). With financial and personnel support from LMH Holding ( Les Manufactures Horlogères ), which at the time—as the owner of Vacheron Constantin and a majority stake in Jaeger-LeCoultre —was part of VDO and, from 1994, was managed under the umbrella of Mannesmann AG , the new company successfully established itself on the market. In 2001, the company, along with several Swiss watch brands, became part of the Richemont Group, headquartered in the canton of Geneva .
On October 24, 1994, Blümlein and Lange jointly presented their first four watch models: the LANGE 1 , the TOURBILLON “Pour le Mérite,” the SAXONIA , and the ARKADE . The Lange 1 , the Saxonia , and the Arkade featured the now-signature patented outsize date—a large date display modeled on the stage clock for the Dresden Semperoper , once built by Gutkaes. Other well-known models include the Datograph , the Cabaret , the Langematik Perpetual , the Double Split Chronograph , the Richard Lange , the Tourbograph Pour le Mérite , the Zeitwerk , and the Saxonia with the “Sax-0-Mat” automatic movement .
In the biannual ranking of the 30 most important German luxury brands compiled by the magazine Wirtschaftswoche , the watch brand “A. Lange & Söhne” achieved first place in 2007, even ahead of the Maybach automobile manufacturer . In July 2008, the 500th employee was hired.
On August 26, 2015, a new, larger manufacturing building was inaugurated in Glashütte by Chancellor Angela Merkel. The 5,400 square meter space provides space for 200 employees.
On 17 January 2017, the re-founder Walter Lange died at the age of 92
Designation of origin “Glashütte” for watches
On 22 February 2022, the regulation for the protection of the geographical indication Glashütte came into force This means that the designation of origin "Glashütte" may only be used in commercial transactions for watches that were manufactured in the region of origin. The region of origin includes the following areas in the Free State of Saxony : the city of Glashütte, the districts of Bärenstein and Lauenstein in the city of Altenberg for supply and finishing, and Dresden for certain finishing steps.
