A. Lange & Söhne

As the proud owner of a pink gold Cabaret, I was wondering if it would not be appropriate for Lange & Söhne to reintroduce it in its catalog. The simple Cabaret was present in various versions in the Saxon Manufacture's offer between 1997 and 2010. The Tourbillon Cabaret (which I must confess I have never liked) had a much shorter life between 2008 and 2013. As for the Moonphase Cabaret, it was removed from the catalog in 2009. In short, it's been 10 years since Lange & Söhne last offered simple rectangular watches.

• A brand like Lange & Söhne must have a proposal for a watch with a non-round shape. In my opinion, this is part of what we are entitled to expect from a high-end watch manufacture. There is, however, a general movement towards a reduction in the offer of shaped watches: for example, at Patek Philippe, there are no longer any unset Gondolo watches in the catalog. But the Ellipse d'Or remain. At Vacheron Constantin, only the American 1921 offers a shaped case, and it has been a long time since Audemars Piguet sent its Edward Piguet collection to the cemetery, and the Millenary now exists only in its feminine versions... And it's because the general trend is the opposite that it has to come back. It would be a surprise and a reminder that the shaped watch is one of the must-haves of the genre.

• Brands have of course economic constraints and it is not a question of restarting a whole collection generating few sales... but a limited production would allow to widen the offer and to re-inscribe the shaped watch in the catalog. The shaped watch is part of Lange & Söhne's roots: let's not forget that the Arkade, with its case shape inspired by the arcades of the Royal Stables in Dresden, was one of the four watches in the renaissance collection in 1994.

• The Cabaret, with its typical art-deco inspired case would provide an alternative to the simple watches offered by Lange & Söhne which may seem redundant today. There needs to be a little more diversity in the offer of entry-level watches and I think that the Cabaret would not duplicate this offer, quite the contrary.

• It would not be a question of reintroducing the same watch as before. Why not take advantage of some of the brand's evolutions? For example, why not offer a thinner version, without a big date, by reworking the case? Why not use honey gold? Why not use the mechanism of the old 1815 Moonphase to have a more precise complication than the one used by the Cabaret Moonphase? There are possibilities, and Lange & Söhne can completely renew the genre while remaining true to the spirit of the original watch.

• Finally, the Cabaret could also be a way to take a more ambitious interest in women who are more daring when it comes to choosing the shape of a watch case... a Cabaret would be a great unisex watch! In any case, the size of the simple Cabaret was ideal. Neither too big nor too small, it suited all wrists, male or female. And every millimetre more with a shaped watch feels much better than with a round watch. This was one of the problems with the Cabaret Tourbillon that I found disproportionate.

If I think about it carefully, I might find other reasons to justify the reintroduction of the Cabaret. But I'm not in the Gods' secrets and I have no idea what the Lange & Söhne team has in mind (and to be honest, I don't believe there is a plan around this come-back). After all, I already have this Cabaret. It's not as if I'm complaining about not being able to acquire an inaccessible watch... Now, I think it's a pity that the Manufacture is depriving itself of this demonstration of know-how and offering an alternative solution to its customers. I would like to make one last observation. I observe a slow rise in the Cabaret's second hand prices. We are not in a speculative bubble but this rise, reasonable but real, shows a growing interest in this watch. So wouldn't this be a sign that the context favorable to its come-back is getting closer ?

Fr.Xavier

More posts: 1815ArkadeCabaretCabaret MoonphasegondoloMillenary

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