At this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the “Best of Show” winner was once again awarded a unique piece by A. Lange & Söhne created especially for the occasion. As part of an awards ceremony, Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid presented the overall winner with an 1815 CHRONOGRAPH in white gold with a hand-engraved hinged cuvette.
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is one of the annual highlights of the global classic car community. Since 2012, A. Lange & Söhne has been a partner of this historic beauty contest for rare automobiles, which took place last weekend against the backdrop of Lake Como. This year, the German manufactory once again honoured the winner of the “Trofeo BMW Group – Best of Show” with a unique 1815 CHRONOGRAPH in white gold. At the award ceremony, Wilhelm Schmid presented the exclusive one-off piece to William Lyon, who, with his Duesenberg SJ Speedster Gurney Nutting from the year 1935, was the favourite of the jury as well as the public and was visibly pleased with the unique timepiece featuring a solid pink-gold dial and hand-engraved hinged cuvette.
At the award ceremony, Schmid emphasised in his speech that the efforts of A. Lange & Söhne to “never stand still” not only reflect in watchmaking quality standards, but also in the great passion for classic automobiles: “As a watch manufactory, we are on an ongoing journey. To reach our destination, we never take the easiest route – we are always opting for the best route instead. And the goals we set ourselves are mostly in previously unexplored territories of watchmaking. Above all, it is our craftsmanship that gets us there. This is reflected in the unique model of our 1815 CHRONOGRAPH, which expresses not only our own horological journey but also our appreciation for the time, effort and passion that goes into preserving automotive masterpieces.”
About A. Lange & Söhne
Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange laid the foundations for Saxony’s precision watchmaking industry when he established his manufactory in 1845. His precious pocket watches remain highly coveted among collectors all over the world. The company was expropriated after World War II, and the name A. Lange & Söhne nearly vanished. In 1990, Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s great-grandson, Walter Lange, had the courage to relaunch the brand. Today, Lange crafts only a few thousand wristwatches per year, predominantly in gold or platinum. They are equipped exclusively with movements made in-house that are elaborately finished and twice assembled by hand. With 71 manufacture calibres developed since 1990, A. Lange & Söhne has secured a top-tier position in the world of watchmaking. Brand icons such as the LANGE 1 with the first outsize date in a regularly produced wristwatch and the ZEITWERK with its precisely jumping numerals display, rank among the company’s greatest successes. Exceptional complications such as the ZEITWERK MINUTE REPEATER, the TRIPLE SPLIT, and the most complicated model to date, the GRAND COMPLICATION presented in 2013 in a limited edition of six watches, represent what the manufactory always strives for: to drive the traditional art of watchmaking to ever-new heights. Launched in 2019, the sporty-elegant ODYSSEUS marks the beginning of a new chapter for A. Lange & Söhne.