A. Lange & Söhne

Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte, Saxony, on 7 December 1845, laying the ground for the town's watchmaking industry. The firm's pocket watches established what is now called the Glashütte style: a three-quarter plate, introduced in 1864, movements in untreated German silver, gold chatons and a hand-engraved balance cock. After the Second World War the company was expropriated in 1948, and the name disappeared for four decades.

Walter Lange, the founder's great-grandson, re-established the company as Lange Uhren GmbH on 7 December 1990, and the first new collection followed in 1994, led by the Lange 1 with its off-centre dial and outsize date. Richemont has owned the brand since 2000. The current families are Lange 1, Saxonia, 1815, Richard Lange, Zeitwerk with its jumping numerals and the steel Odysseus; production remains exclusively mechanical, and every movement is assembled twice before final finishing.