German auction house Dr Crott just sold a unique, 36 mm Lange Pour le Mérite tourbillon for a surprising EUR330,000. That is a record for the Pour le Mérite tourbillon.

The hammer price is well above the CHF314,500 (which works out to about EUR262,000 today) paid for a unique, salmon dial Pour le Mérite at Christie’s in November 2011.

The piece sold by Dr Crott has a 36 mm platinum case (the standard size was 38.5 mm), as well as a black dial with diamond-shaped indices used on the rose gold model. These unusual features were specificed by the original owner, a German industrialist. Only 50 Pour le Mérite tourbillons in platinum were made and this is no. 45/50.

Visually I don’t find it attractive at all, but I can see how its rarity – not just a unique dial but also the case size – makes it desirable. I very much prefer the salmon dial tourbillon sold last year; a bargain compared to this. Lange watches tend to perform average on the secondary market, but its limited editions do well. I don’t expect a few outstanding results like this to change that though. A more recent Lange that has the potential to appreciate is the Homage to FA Lange 165th Anniversary honey gold 1815 Moon Phase in my humble opinion.

– SJX All photos courtesy Auctions Dr H. Crott