Unique German 18K rose gold chronograph with date Circa 1889

Rose gold chronograph by A. Lange & Söhne
–
A unique German 18 carat rose gold open faced chronograph pocket watch with date, circa 1889. Sold on March 29th, 1889 to Dürrstein & Co in Dresden for 550 Marks. Quality 1A, 3/4 plate movement, gold screwed compensation balance. White enamel dial with black Roman hours and red Arabic minutes, subsidiary dial for the date at 12 and constant seconds at 6 o’clock. Plain case, engraved noble family crest on the back, depicting a coronet of rank used by the lower nobility, the lion holding a carrot also points to the landed gentry. Comes with an Extract from the Archives. Dial signed, movement signed and numbered, case numbered.
–
Diameter: 52 mm
–
Weight: 118 g
–
Signed: A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte B/Dresden
–
This piece is the only watch made by Lange & Söhne with this set of functions that was sold as a finished timepiece. Only four watches with this combination of complications with chronograph and date were ever sold. The first three were delivered to the Charles William Schumann company in New York.
–
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.