A Lange & Sohne VS Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe and A Lange & Sohne are highly recognized top-shelf luxury watchmakers in each of their respective countries. In fact, many watch debates end in a stalemate when it comes to debating the virtues of these two brands side-by-side: and for good reasons. Of course, there are brands such as Rolex that are more recognized universally because their brand is positioned and priced in the market to be somewhat attainable to your average layman. However, there is luxury, then there is über-luxury.

BRAND PRESTIGE
Both A Lange & Sohne and Patek Philippe are arguably the most respected names in top-shelf luxury watchmaking in each of their respective countries. While most people recognize Patek Philippe as one of the untouchables, they fail to realize that they are only untouchable by other Swiss watchmakers because Patek doesn’t consider any other replica swiss watch brand to be any serious competition. While this may be true for watchmakers in Switzerland, this truth doesn’t hold up for the German watchmaker hailing from the Saxon region of Glashutte. A Lange & Sohne is possibly the only other master of horology capable of keeping Patek Philippe on their toes. In any case, Serious horologists will often have one of their watches in their collection. Both brands have a fascinating company history and each has made contributions to the age-old craft of traditional watchmaking.

RESALE VALUE
This category of comparison is a no-brainer. Patek is way stronger than A Lange & Sohne when it comes to resale. In fact, their whole brand was built around this notion of longevity and keeping something of high value for your family to inherit. Hence their famous slogan “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.” Do A Lange and Sohne hold their value? Not nearly to the degree of a Patek. Most watch brands with few exceptions tend to lose some of their value the momement you wear the watch. The two watchmakers who hold their value the best in the whole industry are Patek Philippe and Rolex.

HOROLOGY
Both of these watchmakers produce some very mechanically complex watches. A Lange & Sohne had reveald their Grand Complication in 2013 that features a host of coveted complications. The 3-barrel, triple-gear train watch had a perpetual calendar, a grand sonnerie, a petite sonnerie, minute repeater, moon phase and a monopoussoir (mono-pusher) chronograph rattrapante within a 5th of a second foudroyante (flying seconds). Needless to say this sounds very impressive indeed and in most case, this would be more watch than any one person can handle. This is why only 6 models were made of the A Lange & Sohne L1902 Grand Complication.

Patek Philippe, on the other hand, has outshined more brands than any other watchmaker when it comes to grand complication watches and highly complicated mechanical movements. Most recently, they unveiled the Grandmaster Chime, their most complicated wristwatch ever made. It held twenty different complications, had two independent dials with a reversible case and featured a total of six patented proprietary innovations. Their site claims that the process of developing, producing and assembling this watch was over 100,000 hours. There have been more complicated pocketwatches in the past, such as the famous Patek Philippe Henry Graves and the Vacheron Constantin 57260 that we covered extensively. But Patek managed to miniaturize these complications which in and of itself it a complication.

ACCURACY
Most famously known for certifying the accuracy of Swiss watches is the 3rd party Swiss lab called COSC. When a Swiss watch is tested at COSC, and it achieves a precision of -4/+6 seconds per day, it is then considered a highly accurate watch and receives a special pedigree called Chronometer, a prestigious designation for high-precision watches that are tested according to ISO 3159.

German watchmakers need to go a different route and use a German facility called Wempe which tests according to DIN 8319 standards which are the same as COSC’s -4/+6 seconds per day precision. A Lange & Sohne has some rolex swiss replica watches with incredible accuracy. In fact, I’ve even heard of a Saxonia model that had a total deviation of only +3 seconds in 7 days. One thing that German engineers are known for is their precision so there should be no surprise there. Other models such as the Lange 1 are known to hold their precision to about +2/-2 seconds per day, which is double the accuracy of COSC specs, even after many years of wearing it. But Lange’s official position is that their watches are accurate within a minimum of +/- 3 seconds per day which regardless of the deviation of one second, is still higher precision than a COSC-certified chronometer.

That said Patek Philippe, like many other high-end Swiss watchmakers, does not use COSC as a standard, since to them the bar is set rather low for a watchmaker of their caliber (pun very much intended). Patek Philippe developed their own testing methods that allow their watches to consistently meet above COSC specs and earn their special Patek Philippe Seal. This special seal found on the movement means that their watches are accurate within -3/+2 seconds per day. This seal cover more than accuracy but rather, the entirety of the watch. According to their site, it imposes strict requirements for the finishing, quality of material used, the perfection of the precious gems used, and the setting of said gems. Furthermore, it covers service for the entire lifetime of the watch and guarantees repairs and restoration for every watch crafted by the watchmaker since 1839.