German auction house Dr Crott just sold a unique, 36 mm Lange Pour le Mérite tourbillon for a surprising €330,000. That is a record for the Pour le Mérite tourbillon.

The hammer price is well above the CHF314,500 (which works out to about €262,000 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.

All photos courtesy Auctions Dr H. Crott