Fine 18K gold Glashütte lever chronograph watch Circa 1916

Gold open faced lever chronograph by A. Lange & Söhne
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A rare and fine German 18 carat gold open faced quality 1A lever pocket watch with chronograph and 30-minute counter, circa 1916. Sold on March 21st, 1916, for 695 DM to Wikander company in Borås, Sweden. 3/4 Plate movement, lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with black Arabic hours, red Arabic five-minute numerals, 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock and subsidiary seconds at 3. Plain case, the cobalt blue enamelled engraved name Anders on the back, the chronograph activated through the pendant. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered. Comes with the original presentation box and an Extract from the Archives.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Weight: 104 g
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Signed: A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte-SA.
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The former property of the Anders family.
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According to Martin Huber’s Lange-Liste, the price of this watch included a 5% war tax in 1916. An extra charge of 30 marks was added on top for the enamel decoration of the case. This watch is recorded on page 150.
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Ferdinand Adolph Lange was the founder of A. Lange & Söhne. He was born in 1815 as the son of Johann Samuel Lange. Early in life, his parents separated and he was adopted by a foster family. Luckily this family offered him a chance at proper education and in 1829, he joined the Technical University of Dresden. Lange’s master was Christian Friedrich Gutkaes, the maker of the famous five-minute clock in the Dresden Opera House and the court watchmaker later on. Lange finished his apprenticeship with honours and went on to work with Gutkaes as his assistant for more than two years. In 1837, Lange decided he wanted to learn the watchmaking craft from the best of the time and this decision took him to Paris, Switzerland and England. He spent four years with the master watchmaker Winnerl, a student of Breguet, in Paris. Lange returned to Dresden in 1841 and took over his now father-in-law Gutkaes’ business in 1842. He had the ambition to bring prosperity to the once rich, now unfortunate Erzgebirge region, Glashütte, he wanted to build a watchmaking industry and create jobs. He received funding from the high council of Saxony and on December 7th, 1845, Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded A. Lange & Cie. He started with fifteen young men who were obliged to work with him for at least five years and following Lange encouraged his apprentices to found their own specialized firms in Switzerland. He set up a watchmaking cluster in the region along with his colleagues Julius Assmann, Adolf Schneider and Moritz Grossmann. At the time, there was a specialist for every part, producing individual pieces of the highest quality. Ferdinand Adolph developed numerous mechanisms, from the remontoir to dead-seconds and repeaters and he introduced the metric system to watchmaking. Eventually, it took Glashütte watchmaking 20 years to develop. After two successful decades and as the mayor of Glashütte Ferdinand Adolph Lange retired in 1868. He enjoyed his spacious house built adjacent to the factory, which today serves as the headquarters of the modern A. Lange & Söhne. He gave the reigns of his legacy to his sons Richard and Emil Lange, subsequently, the company’s name was changed from A. Lange & Cie to A. Lange & Söhne. Under their management A. Lange & Söhne expanded tremendously. Ferdinand Adolph Lange died in 1875.