Short answer
A replica A. Lange & Söhne watch is a copy built outside the Lange factory in Glashütte, Germany. Lange licenses no other maker. Replica listings sell for $150 to $900. Genuine Lange watches start near $20,000 and pass $200,000 at auction for rare references. The gap shows in the movement, the outsize date, and the case finish.
What the real company does
Ferdinand Adolph Lange opened a workshop in Glashütte in 1845. The East German state took the firm in 1948. The name sat idle for 40 years. Walter Lange, the founder's great-grandson, restarted production in 1990. The first new collection arrived in 1994 with four models: Lange 1, Saxonia, Arkade, and Tourbillon Pour le Mérite.
Output stays small. The company counts annual production in the low thousands of pieces. Movements are built in house, assembled twice, and finished by hand with a three-quarter plate, blued screws, and engraved balance cocks.
Models that get copied
Replica catalogs focus on a small set of lines.
- Lange 1: off-center dial, outsize date at 1 o'clock, power reserve at 3.
- Datograph: flyback chronograph, two subdials, outsize date at 12.
- Zeitwerk: jump hour and minute windows in digital form.
- Saxonia: round case, small seconds at 6.
The Lange 1 appears in replica form more than the others. Its dial layout is the reason.
Case and dial
Real Lange cases measure 38.5 mm to 41 mm and come in gold or platinum. Case sides are polished. Lugs are soldered and finished by hand. Replica cases run 1 mm to 2 mm thicker. Gold plating wears through at the lug edges inside a year on most $200 copies.
Outsize date
The outsize date uses two separate discs. Each disc sits in its own frame. Copies use one printed disc or two thin discs with a visible gap. Look at the digits from a 45 degree angle. Real discs sit flush with the dial surface.
Movement
No replica carries a Lange calibre. Most run a Chinese automatic or a hand-wind clone. Decoration is stamped, not engraved. Screws are painted blue, not heat-blued. A 10x loupe shows the slot of the screw head.
Caseback
Low price copies ship with a solid steel back. Mid-range copies use sapphire. Engraving on a real balance cock lists the maker, the town, and the number of adjusted positions.
Price bands
- $80 to $200: quartz or basic automatic, mineral glass, solid back.
- $200 to $450: automatic with a decorated rotor, sapphire front, steel back.
- $450 to $900: hand-wind movement, sapphire on both sides, closer dial spacing.
Checks before buying
- Ask for case thickness in millimeters.
- Ask for a photo of the date window from a 45 degree angle.
- Ask for a movement photo with the balance cock in view.
- Confirm the return window in days.
- Confirm the strap material and the buckle markings.
Legal note
Replica watches infringe the A. Lange & Söhne trademark. Import and sale are restricted in the United States, the European Union, and most of Asia. Customs can seize a shipment. Lange does not service or authenticate copies.