A. Lange & Söhne marks 20 years of the Datograph with a 50-piece platinum limited edition
Richemont Japan's own release puts one of only 50 platinum Datograph Perpetuals worldwide within reach of Japanese collectors -- through A. Lange & Söhne's sole directly managed boutique in the country, in Ginza.
A. Lange & Söhne has unveiled a 50-piece limited edition of its Datograph Perpetual in platinum, marking 20 years since the chronograph's debut, Richemont Japan GK said in a release dated October 24. The watch is built around a 41.0mm platinum 950 case and Lange's hand-wound L952.1 calibre, with 556 parts, combining a column-wheel chronograph with a perpetual calendar, outsize date, moon phase and a jumping minute counter.
The black dial carries 11 hand-set baguette diamonds, and Lange is making only 50 examples worldwide -- a run small enough that it functions as an anniversary piece rather than a production model.
In Japan, the watch reaches collectors only through A. Lange & Söhne's Ginza boutique, the brand's sole directly managed store in the country, where Richemont Japan is taking inquiries and reservations by phone and, unusually for a watch this rarefied, by LINE. The release did not state a Japan allocation or a yen price.
A 50-piece platinum anniversary watch is a scarcity play by design -- Lange's high-complication pieces are already tightly supplied, and concentrating Japan's distribution in a single Ginza boutique means whatever allocation the market gets is decided entirely by that one room's client list, which the brand does not publish.