I don’t often read spiels from watch sellers, though there are exceptions like Langepedia, a specialist in the German brand that I have long been a fan of. Alp Sever, the gentleman behind Langepedia, recently published a story that caught my eye. It was an ode to a watch already sold, but an important one worth commemorating, the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite ref. 701.008, a unique piece in white gold with silver sub-dials.

Mr Sever’s story got my attention because I remember the watch. It first emerged publicly just over a decade ago at Christie’s, where it had been consigned by presumably the original owner (who was presumably someone connected with the brand’s corporate parent in the 1990s).

I admired the watch in person during a preview exhibition, but back then it was as far out of my budget as the Lange 31’s mainspring is long.

The unique dial has a concise, crisp aesthetic that is almost monochromatic and accentuated by the lozenge-shaped markers also found on the pink gold variant. Intriguing, another unique Pour le Mérite exists with a similar all-black dial, but with a smaller, 36 mm case. This “panda” iteration is more appealing, however, as is its conventional, 38.5 mm case.

The unique Tourbillon Pour le Mérite sold for CHF437,000 at Christie’s Geneva in May 2014 – extraordinary at the time. In the same auction, a third-series Patek Philippe ref. 2499 in yellow gold sold for less. The Tourbillon Pour le Mérite was enjoying a little bit of a boom then, but this was a record by some margin.

Interestingly, a steel Lange 1 ref. 101.026 was offered in the same auction and it sold for an equally impressive CHF100,000.

Coincidentally, the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite went to a collector in Asia and I admired it in person on and off again over the following years.

Along the way, the owner acquired a platinum bracelet for it, though I don’t remember ever seeing it in the metal on the bracelet (it was originally sold on a strap).

Now the watch has gone to an Asian outside of Asia so admiring it in person will be more challenging but it remains a strikingly beautiful watch that captures the stark aesthetic that arguably defines Lange.

All photographs courtesy Langepedia.