The A. Lange & Söhne Datograph debuted at Baselworld 1999 and immediately rewrote the rules for the modern chronograph. Presented by Walter Lange and Günter Blümlein, it was the Saxon manufacture's first wristwatch chronograph since the brand's post-reunification rebirth, whose first collection was unveiled in 1994, and it arrived with an entirely in-house movement at a time when even the grandest Swiss houses still relied on outside ébauches. The hand-wound caliber L951.1, built from 405 parts and assembled twice in Lange's tradition, paired a classic column wheel with a precisely jumping minute counter, a flyback function, and Lange's signature outsize date, inspired by the five-minute clock of Dresden's Semperoper. Beating at 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour with roughly 36 hours of power reserve, it impressed as much for its hand-engraved balance cock, black-polished steel parts, and German silver bridges as for its mechanics. The name itself fuses 'Dato' (the date) with 'graph' (chronograph).
The first reference, 403.035, housed the movement in a 39mm platinum case with a black dial and applied white gold Roman numerals. Its balanced face, with two light subsidiary dials beneath the big date, became one of the most admired layouts in watchmaking and the most iconic Lange chronograph after the brand's 1994 relaunch. Over its 1999 to 2012 run, the first generation expanded into pink gold with the black-dial 403.031 'Dufourgraph' (so called because Philippe Dufour owned one, made from 2003 to 2005) and the silver-dial 403.032, plus the scarce yellow gold 403.041 'Yellowjacket', of which only around thirty to sixty were ever made. A handful of limited and unique pieces, such as the platinum 'Albino' made for retailer Pisa, deepened its cult status.
At SIHH 2006 Lange unveiled the Datograph Perpetual (reference 410.025), the manufacture's first marriage of a flyback chronograph and a perpetual calendar, powered by caliber L952.1 in a 41mm platinum case. The line's next leap came at SIHH 2012 with the Datograph Up/Down (reference 405.035): the case grew from 39mm to 41mm, the new caliber L951.6 brought an in-house balance spring and a 60-hour power reserve, an up/down indicator sat at six o'clock, and the Roman numerals gave way to a more restrained dial. A black-dial pink gold Up/Down, reference 405.031, followed in 2015. Collectors and watchmakers alike, including Philippe Dufour, have repeatedly called the Datograph movement one of the most beautiful chronograph calibers ever made; Dufour himself praised it years earlier as the best chronograph movement ever made.
Bedesten Watches has sold authentic A. Lange & Söhne timepieces in Istanbul since 1999, and the Datograph is among the most coveted German watches our clients seek. Whether you are searching for a first-generation platinum 403.035, a pink gold Up/Down 405.031, or a Datograph Perpetual, visit our Suadiye store in Kadıköy or message us on WhatsApp +90 532 327 88 26 for current stock and pricing. We buy, sell and appraise, and we accept TRY, USD and EUR.