Last year, A. Lange & Söhne surprised us all with the unveiling of their very first sports model in stainless steel and it is fair to say the reactions were mixed. While I am a huge fan of it, many didn’t like the way the integrated bracelet worked despite loving the case and dial work. Well, this year, amidst the craziness of COVID-19 and the exodus of Basel, Lange has released a new member of its sports family – the Odysseus White-Gold.
The watch is largely the same as the previous year’s release in terms of its form and mechanism and if you want to read more about the Odysseus, you can click here to read when Christopher went hands on with it earlier this year. The big news of course, is the change from stainless steel to white gold and the removal of the integrated bracelet. With this white gold variant, you now have the option of having a leather or rubber strap.
Offering a precious metal variant with a strap on originally integrated bracelet watches is a formal that has been done at other high horology houses like Patek, Vacheron and AP and is nothing new. That being said, it seems that Lange was listening to the feedback of the bracelet and giving some people were asking for. Other changes include the shift from the grainy blue dial to a sobering anthracite grey one with a new texture along the periphery of the dial and the sub seconds dial. Lange’s dial work is always excellent and with this it is no different, providing a great depth via the enlarged apertures, radial grooves and applied markers.
Like the pervious Odysseus, this new iteration makes use of the same L155.1 DATOMATIC. The name DATOMATIC visible on the rotor is derived from the combination of Date and Automatic. The attractive 32.9 mm movement can be observed through the sapphire crystal caseback. It features a unidirectionally winding central rotor with a centrifugal mass in platinum. Thanks to the skeletonization of the rotor further details of the manually executed, lavish finissage of the movement can be admired.
FLEETING THOUGHTS
Firstly, I must say I am not a fan of the leather strap as it seems a bit bulky and inelegant. The tone of brown doesn’t suit the beautiful grey dial in my eyes. The rubber though, on the other hand, works fantastically well and this would be the option to go with. This combination is very beautiful and really makes for a sportier watch. That being said, if I were to choose, the stainless steel blue Odysseus remains my favourite. I for one love the integrated bracelet and the way the watch looks overall, perhaps it just wasn’t very photogenic.
Overall, I think this Odysseus will please a lot for people, especially on the rubber strap. I think it is a welcome addition to the family and with the steel Odysseus being very hard to get, Lange has positioned themselves well for this watch to be a success.
The new A.Lange & Odysseus in White-Gold, when available, will be priced at £31,500. For more details, visit alange-soehne.com.
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