A. Lange & Söhne

Consider this: It's the year 2001, Lange is making about 5000 watches per year, and the brand releases a limited edition of FIVE HUNDRED (500) pieces to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brand's modern inception!

Making 500 examples of the same watch is essentially turning it into a standard-production piece with a predictable shelf life of many years. It took Lange forever to sell all of these. Huge supply, far less demand.

Only years after they were sold out did interest in this 500-piece LE begin to grow among enthusiasts.

So today we see a large number of very happy collectors who can enjoy and own the Langematik Anniversary, thanks to the relatively large production of this "limited edition"!

On a historic note, Lange offered only one other 500-piece "limited edition": The 40mm platinum 1815 with rhodium dial (233.025), which was sold over a period of at least 8 years (2009-2017). People were puzzled as to why Lange decided to make this watch as a limited edition. It's a very, very nice watch, but there's nothing especially distinctive about it.

And then, followers of the brand may remember Lange's unusual and very quiet decision in 2015, shortly before all 500 of those 233.025 watches were sold out (or discontinued, if all 500 pieces weren't produced). At that time, Lange released a 200-piece limited edition of this very same platinum 1815 but with a black dial (the 236.049) and at a substantially lower price than the 233.025.

Since the time, in the past 7 years, I think Lange has been more careful and deliberate with its limited editions.

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