The 1815 chronograph boutique edition. I wasn’t big into Langes before, until 2 years ago or so, I first had an opportunity to see an 1815 ‘ab/auf’ aka up/down. Something hit me when I put the 1815 on the wrist. The case construction, dial design, how it sits on my wrist, it was a joy. Although I did not manage to secure the watch, it got my initial attention towards the brand Lange. Fast forward to now, I have the pleasure of offering this beautiful piece for sale.
The 1815 chronograph can be categorised as the baby brother of the Datograph. The Datograph came out in 1999 (potential birth year watch?), with the size of 41mm dimension and 13.1mm thickness; which for me, is way too big on the wrist, especially the thickness. But this 1815 Chronograph solved such problems for people like me in 2004 with more refined, elegant, and more suitable for various wrist sizes.
There are in total 3 series of the 1815 chronograph, this being the third and latest edition. First 1815 chronograph came out in 2004 which personally is my favourite out of the three, then there is the second generation, which is the odd brother out of the three due to the lack of pulsation dial.
At first, I was a little skeptical to have this one in the collection simply due to my unwillingness to wear anything under 37mm. The 1815 chronograph measures in at 39.5mm diameter, 48.4mm lug to lug, and 11mm thick; which is slightly bigger than my usual standard. However, after getting my hands on the watch, experiencing the watch, looking at the movement, the color combination on this particular watch, I had to own it. When first looking at the dial, this boutique edition has unique blue numerals, markers, and hands on top of a whitish silver dial, a combination I have not seen before in any other watches; especially on a dress watch. It’s a touch of brightness without being flashy.
Flip the watch, it will make you want to wear the watch facing backwards simply due to how nicely the movement has been finished. This 3 dimensional looking manual wound caliber L.951.5, is a slightly updated caliber to the Datograph, minus the big date window. Oh, it is a flyback chronograph, and if you ask me when would people ever use flyback chronographs in this time and age, the answer is never. But it’s just another function to play around for watch nerds. At the end this is the grown men/women version of toys.
When compared with other giants in the industry, this 1815 chronograph directly competes with modern Patek’s manual wound chronographs such as the 5170. Some might disagree, but I personally would choose this Lange over the 5170 for its more masculine looks, mesmerizing dial (boutique edition), and my preference of L.951.1 Caliber over Patek’s CH29-535 Caliber in the 5170. This particular 1815 is in excellent condition overall, the movement has been serviced by Lange, but the case remains untouched and ready for the next caretaker.
