Haute Time Visits New A. Lange & Söhne Flagship in New York City
On September 25th, A. Lange & Söhne celebrated the grand opening party at their newest location – 785 Madison Avenue. International CEO, Wilhelm Schmid, said that he and his team spent countless hours walking around Midtown and the Upper East side to find the perfect location to construct Lange’s first standalone New York City boutique. And judging from the unique design and architectural layout, it was worth the wait.
The 2,565 square foot store is spectacular. From the carefully thought out interior design, which matches the brand’s other boutiques, but with a modern New York vibe, to the lighting and the architecture – the execution is flawless.
When you walk in, you immediately see an exploded tourbillon model in the center case, flanked by cases on either side lining the store from front to back, stocked with the brand’s coveted German manufactured timepieces.
At the back of the main level, there is a hidden bookcase door that opens to reveal a stairway to the VIP and watchmaking demonstration area upstairs. Once upstairs you can look down of the front or back of the store.Uniquely, at the back of the store, is a set of sunlights that shine natural sunlight in from two stories up, providing natural light, even in the back of the store, a nice feature considering many boutiques are dark towards the back.
“The new location is an important element of our international sales strategy. With the opening of our New York boutique we are taking another step on our way to develop a network of own-name stores in the major shopping conurbations of our key markets in Europe, Asia and America. We are looking forward to welcoming friends and collectors to our new home of time on Madison Avenue” noted Gaetan Guillosson, President of A. Lange & Söhne North America.
Lange is an ultra exclusive brand, and accordingly the number of retailers carrying the watches are limited. This store will stock a very deep assortment of the brands timepieces, providing New York residents, and visitors, one of the best selections of Lange timepieces in the country. Not to mention, a luxurious atmosphere to enjoy the lifestyle associated with the Glashutte brand collectors consider to be among the best watch brands in the world.
Of all the mono-brand boutiques in New York City, some quaint, some huge, this one balances size and elegance the best. The store is as exquisite as the timepieces. Here’s a look at some of our favorite models from the new A. Lange & Söhne boutique:
First up was a Lange 1 in white gold. The Lange 1 features an attractive off-centered display which was resized especially for this model to fit the dial, as was the movement. The date was also enlarged creating a wonderful balance on the dial. It’s the largest date format of all the Lange watches and makes the dial much more legible. The Lange 1 is also available in 18K pink gold, a model which we saw recently while in London [Click here for more…].
Another piece that caught our attentions was the Lange 1 Time Zone in 18-carat yellow gold. It’s a fairly more complex watch, which indicates the current time in all of the world’s 24 time zones while simultaneously displaying home time. A peripheral city ring makes it possible to set the zone times with pushbutton convenience.
Finally we caught a rare glimpse at one of the brand’s most innovative models from the past decade, the brilliant Cabaret Tourbillon. Launched in 2008, it solved a puzzle watchmakers have been trying to put together ever since the invention of the tourbillon. Could the gravity-correcting mechanism be stopped and started again at will. A. Lange & Söhne’s Cabaret Tourbillon introduces that function thanks to the manual calibreL042.1 found inside the watch.
To celebrate this occasion, Lange created a special boutique edition of the Pour le Merite, in white gold, that will be available exclusively at any of the 13 Lange boutiques worldwide. Although it wasn’t quite ready when we visited the New York City boutique, we should be getting that to you very shortly.
Photo Credit: Jason Pitsch. For more information please visit the official A. Lange & Söhne website.
