With one watch unveiled each month since the start of the year, the A. Lange & Söhne “25th Anniversary” series is coming to a completion. The ninth watch has just been announced – the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase.

Of the 10 piece anniversary set, this is arguably the most esoteric and least known Lange 1, being an elegantly conceived complication inside a case that was originally devised as a smaller men’s watch, but is now a ladies’ watch.

Measuring a compact 36.8mm in width, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase was first unveiled in 2009 – seven years after the launch of the full-size, 38.5mm Lange 1 Moon Phase. Subsequently in 2017, it evolved to incorporate a new caliber based on the second-generation Lange 1 movement.

Though the original Little Lange 1 was introduced as a watch for men in the late 1990s, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase was a ladies’ watch from the get-go and decorated as such, with mother-of-pearl dials, diamond bezels and most recently a guilloche dial. But with the subdued anniversary colours of blue and silver, the latest Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is the first instance where it could be for men wanting a smaller watch.

The dial of the watch is solid silver, with blued steel hands and printed blue markings. As with the Grand Lange 1 Moon Phase “25^thAnniversary” unveiled earlier in the year, the white-gold lunar disc in the seconds sub-dial is hand-engraved with stars that vary in size and shape, creating a detailed depiction of the night sky.

While the larger Lange 1 Moon Phase features a more advanced moon phase display that doubles up as a day and night indicator, the Little Lange 1 Moon Phase is a straightforward phase of the moon display. It can be adjusted via a recessed pusher in the case between seven and eight o’clock, and is accurate to a day in 122.6 years, the norm in watchmaking.

The case is in white gold, and measures 36.8mm wide and 9.5mm in height, which is, in fact, exactly the same dimensions as the Little Lange 1.

Visible through the sapphire caseback is the hand-wound L 121.2 movement that is based on the second-generation Lange 1 caliber from 2015. It features an instantaneous jumping date display, a stops-seconds, and a power reserve of 72 hours, courtesy of double mainsprings.

It is fitted with a free-sprung balance wheel attached to an in-house hairspring. And like all anniversary watches in the series, the usual floral engraving that spans the balance cock has been replaced with a special engraving and the reproduction of the outsize date displaying “25”, filled in with blue lacquer.

Key facts

Diameter: 36.8mm
Height: 9.5mm
Material: 18k white gold
Water-resistance: 30m

Movement: Cal. L121.2
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds; power reserve indicator; outsize date
Winding: Hand-wound

Frequency: 21,600 bph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 72 hours

Strap: Crocodile with white gold pin buckle

Price and availability

The Little Lange 1 Moon Phase “25^thAnniversary” (Ref. 182.066) is limited to 25 pieces and priced at €42,300 including including 19% German tax, or 64,000 Singapore dollars. It will be part of the 10-piece set that will be launched next month, October 2019.