Let's have a free discussion about the Saxonia Thin, which clearly defines A. Lange & Söhne's "dress watch category"!

In this series, the editorial staff of Chronos Japan share their impressions of popular models and discuss them. This time, four members—Editor-in-Chief Masamasa Hirota, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yukiya Suzuki, Taketo Hosoda, and newcomer Chieko Tsuruoka—wore the A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin. While it's the brand's simplest model, it's packed with things to talk about and is a dress watch that will satisfy any watch connoisseur.

Is the Saxonia Thin the ultimate dress watch?

Hosoda"This time, I tried out the A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin in 18K pink gold. It's a purely hand-wound, thin dress watch, which is rare these days."

(I.e."It's very orthodox. I think there are a lot of fundamentalists who prefer no-date, two-hand dress watches, and I tend to be in that camp myself, so I was like, 'Hurray!' and I was very happy to wear it. And it's really beautiful, too."

Hosoda"The case diameter was 37mm, but how did it feel to wear, Mr. Tsuruoka?"

Tsuruoka"My wrist is 14.7cm, and the case fits perfectly on my wrist."

Hosoda"It's not unreasonable for a woman to wear it."

Hirota"I like how Lange watches retain a nice weight even when they're thin. I think this is because the case isn't hollowed out and gold is used for the spacers that secure the movement."

Hosoda"It certainly felt quite heavy for a two-hand thin watch."

(I.e."If it's too light, it can be boring. The lugs are surprisingly not short, but they fit nicely on the wrist, so it was very comfortable to wear. I remember wearing it for the first three days and wanting to wear it a little longer."

Simple yet sophisticated visibility and operability

Hosoda"How was the visibility?"

Hirota"The Saxonia Thin was first released in 2011 and was improved in 16, when the bar indexes were lengthened."

(I.e."The indexes are thin, but they have nice, sharp surfaces, so even a little light reflects off them and you can tell the time. The tip of the minute hand is also thin and long, so it's easy to read."

Hosoda"While the hands and indexes are polished, the dial is finely roughened, so only the areas that need to be visible reflect light properly."

(I.e."When trying to create a luxurious look, a common technique is to use lacquer to make it shine, but if you're not careful, it can reflect light and make it hard to see. On the other hand, this one has a nice matte finish."

Hosoda"So, how was the handling?"

Hirota"The feel of the needle adjustment is still superb!"

Hosoda"It's not extremely light, but it's not as extreme as, say, the Odysseus, where one rotation of the crown only moves about 20 minutes. With two hands, there's no need to precisely adjust the time, so I think it's lighter than the Odysseus."

(I.e."On the other hand, if it's too light it's difficult to set the time, but it was just right somewhere in between."

Hosoda"Also, there was no skipping of the hands, which is common in thin dress watch movements."

(I.e."That's right. When you use an offset gear train to make the movement thinner, the hands tend to jump. But with this movement, the minute hand in particular stayed firmly in place. What's more, I was told that this particular watch hadn't been fine-tuned for accuracy when I borrowed it, but it was incredibly accurate. Even though I was checking it visually without the second hand, there was no deviation after 24 hours of wearing it, and it was still less than one minute after 48 hours. Even on the third day without winding the mainspring, it still hadn't lost even a minute. The indexes are in five-minute increments, so you can tell if it's off by one minute."

Hosoda"That just shows how strong your basic physical strength is."

A movement packed with A. Lange & Söhne's signature style

Hosoda"Since we're talking about the movement, let's continue a little further. The Thin Lange is the simplest model, so I think the finishing is minimal, but personally I think it's more than adequately well-finished. It has a three-quarter plate and gold chatons, which is a typical Glashütte style. It also has a free-sprung balance and a swan-neck movable balance stud, and it's all there."

(I.e."It also has Glashütte stripe decoration, counterscrews, and an engraved balance cock. It's an entry-level model among Lange models, but it has all of these, so you can be satisfied just by looking at the movement. Also, the teeth of the crown wheel are cycloidal, and you can see that they've been polished by hand. Another plus is that it's hand-wound and doesn't have a rotor, so you can see the movement well. When you think about it that way, maybe the Thinnest is actually a good deal?"

Hirota"The angle of the endpapers is kept low, which is also characteristic of a slim model. Also, I think the reason why the pinion and ratchet wheels are visible is to make it thinner."

(I.e."Since it's not covered, it can be made thinner. Indeed, if you check the Lange 1 caliber, the three-quarters plate is completely covered, so I think the professor's assessment is correct."

Hosoda"Also, it's pretty amazing that it has a power reserve of about 72 hours despite being this thin! In recent watches, the power reserve is extended by using silicon around the escapement to make it lighter, but Lange has an identity that relies on traditional manufacturing methods, so they don't do that. I think they're making efforts to either wind the mainspring thicker or make the core thinner to increase the amount that can be wound."

(I.e."The power reserve was 72 hours when it was first released, but it seems that all of these improvements have been incorporated to make it longer."

Tsuruoka"Also, speaking of appearance, the German silver on this one has tarnished a little. I think that's a nice touch, but what do you guys think?"

Hosoda"If you use German silver for the receiver, it will turn a uniform yellowish color over time, which is nice."

(I.e."German silver is an alloy also known as nickel silver, made from copper, zinc, and nickel. To give you an idea of ​​familiar items, it's used in 500 yen coins and Western-style tableware. It has a more luxurious feel than brass, and I think the way it changes color is very tasteful."

The future of the Saxonia collection

Hosoda"Changing the subject, Lange has stated that they will discontinue all Saxonia models except for the Flach. What do you think about this?"

(I.e."The Flach is the last remaining Lange watch. If it were to disappear, there would be nothing that the general public could buy, both in terms of price and production volume..."

Hirota"As for price, in 2016, the 37mm case of the Thinnest was 1.7 million yen, and the 40mm case was 2.4 million yen, but now it's 3.366 million yen. It's gone up a lot."

(I.e."Well, considering that there are brands that are about three times the price, I guess it's still not that bad."

Hosoda"The price of the Lange 1 has risen to the same level as the Datograph from a few years ago."

(I.e."However, salaries have been rising in countries other than Japan over the past 20 years, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, high interest rates have led to inflation in many countries, so it's inevitable that salaries will rise."

Hirota"On the other hand, production volumes have returned to pre-COVID levels. In that sense, perhaps it will become easier to obtain Flach?"

(I.e."A. Lange has expanded its factory and hired more people, but when I interviewed CEO Wilhelm Schmidt, he made it clear that the expansion would not increase production numbers. I think the reason for the increase in personnel is to make complications and polish the titanium cases. So I don't think they'll be allocating that many people to the Thinnest Movement, but overall production numbers were down for a while, so in that sense, maybe it will be easier to buy a watch."

Hosoda"It's a dirty story, Flach is supposed to be a model that doesn't make a profit even if it sells."

More than just an entry

Hosoda"Finally, what kind of person do you think would wear a Flach watch and in what situations?"

Tsuruoka"It has the look of a traditional dress watch, but I thought it could actually be worn on an everyday basis."

Hosoda"When I tried it out, I paired it with my everyday outfit, like a shirt and jacket, and I thought it would still look good. It didn't stand out as much as I thought it would. Some dress watches are so delicate that they only suit certain occasions, but this one has a traditional design that can be worn every day, so in a way, it's a valuable piece."

(I.e."If it were a little more water-resistant, it would have been worth featuring in the first feature (22 New Era Dress Watches) of the January 2024 issue of Chronos Japan. However, it can still be used normally at 3 ATM. However, since it's solid gold, it might not be a good idea to wear it 1/1, considering scratches."

Hosoda"It's inevitable that scratches will be more noticeable on polished gold surfaces."

Tsuruoka"However, I thought that the sides would be less noticeable since they're made of satin!"

(I.e."Indeed, this polishing technique makes scratches less visible. Polishing the entire surface to a high shine to create a luxurious feel is an old-fashioned method, so this finish is really good."

Tsuruoka“Also, recently, the volume of sharewatches has been coming up a lot in search terms, so I think it would be good to use it in that way.”

Hosoda"One thing I'd like to say is that if both men and women are using the watch, you should be careful about the strap. This time, we borrowed the one that the female PR staff normally wears, so it was just barely big enough around the wrists of the men (laughs). On the other hand, I think that a men's strap would be too long for a woman's wrist, so if you're going to wear it as a pair, I think it would be better to have an original strap made."

Tsuruoka「そうですね」

(I.e."I've been saying throughout this discussion that it's an entry-level model, but the so-called entry level model is originally meant to broaden the market, so I don't think the Flach is limited to that. It's already built with incredibly high quality."

Hosoda"In terms of price, it's positioned as an entry-level model for this brand, but it's a watch that watch connoisseurs will buy after coming full circle, so in that sense, it might be good for the brand to have a separate entry-level model."

Hirota"Indeed, the original Thin was clearly an entry-level model. But now it's clearly positioned as a dress watch."

(I.e."Maybe there's no longer any need to enter the Lange market. In the past, some people would start with a Saxonia, but now people who want a Thinnest are buying one, and people who want a Lange 1 are willing to wait a few years to buy one. So, as Hirota said, I think the Thinnest has become a proper model. It may be the ideal form of a dress watch."