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A. Lange & Söhne

A wonderful conundrum you have

 

Both are nice watches - each with their own points to note. Here's a movement-nerdy take on both:

Lange 1:
Has freesprung balance. Hence, no balance timing screws for poising which some may miss as they find it more traditional and aesthetically pleasing. The swan neck is not a "regulator", but is for beat adjustment which is also a more modern take of things. I personally wished it was a more classic, regulator design like the old L1...
Compared to the traditional Lange 1, as you know it has instantaneous jumping date now thanks to the new movement. Actually, the new movement also has a few other quirks - for one, the geartrain is aligned at a different angle to the old L1, and thus a more efficient system with less gears is achieved. By placing the balance wheel next to the crown (I can't think of any other watch having this!), it allows convenient placement of the seconds hand on the dial side directly driven (old L1 needed extra gearing). This means that the 3/4 plate is now simplified in design and doesnt need the little "islands" the old L1 had (take as a positive or negative - some prefer the older aesthetic). This simpler design I imagine gave the needed space to implement the instantaneous date.
Aesthetically, I think the L1 is always an icon and that any Lange collection needs one with a bigdate.

1815 u/d:
This is one of those 1815 models which does not have cut off numerals thanks to the dial layout which is nice. Aesthetically it is nicely balanced - albeit as many pointed out is too reminiscent to the chrono dial.
Movement has more interesting visual appeal with much of the winding gears visible. Personally however, I am not fond of the Click - If its exposed like that, it could've been more ornately finished like how its done on the saxonia 35mm as a "sharp beak". Such a setup that the u/d does now is less visually interesting, but won't wear out as quickly since no sharp contacts.
As with similar Langes, the ratchet gears have polished teeth (albeit subtly) which is a nice finishing touch that not many other brands do.
It also has the traditional regulator swan-neck and poised screwed balance - which I find very visually appealing and more traditional.

Both watches as I recall, have an interesting quirk whereby when power reserve runs out, the seconds hand will stop exactly at 60! This mechanism exists piggyback off the fact both have a power reserve mechanism in place already.

My personal biased vote goes to the Lange 1 due to the iconic layout and outside date.

Regards,
skyeriding

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