A. Lange & Söhne

It is interesting for me to revisit this now, in retrospect. Since that time, I don't think many (any?) of Lange's limited editions other than Handwerkskunst models have had unique aesthetic design features on the dial. I might be misremembering that, though. I did think about this last year, when Lange released the WG/black dial 1815 Chronograph with pulsometric dial, vis-a-vis the WG "boutique edition" of that same model that was released two years earlier. Of course, neither of these 1815 Chronos are limited editions, and we're talking about overall dial design vs. a single purely "decorative" element (Ursa Major), so it's not exactly an analogous situation to the Emil Lange 1815 Moonphase/Luna Mundi situation. But I did wonder, if I had owned the "boutique edition," if I would have an expectation (or at least a strong hope!) that Lange would not have released a non-boutique model with this very same dial so soon after releasing the boutique edition. I also thought about this when Lange released the Grand Lange 1 Moonphase Lumen (with semi-transparent dial) three years after the Grand Lange 1 Lumen sans moonphase (also with semi-transparent dial). It also came to mind when Lange released the honey gold 1815 200th anniversary edition (LE of 200) shortly after the white gold/black dial 200th anniversary edition (LE of 200), and again with the LE of 218 Richard Lange PLM watches in WG shortly after releasing the LE of 200 in RG and 50 in PT.

Of course, these are just my own opinions. Lange has every right to make any and all marketing decisions that it deems strategically advantageous, and it's unrealistic for me or anyone else to expect technical and/or aesthetic innovation at every turn. I am always curious to hear what others think, too -- if others have similar or different reactions when one limited edition or boutique watch reminds them a lot of another.