The 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” in stainless steel with black enamel dial is on the auction block. The auction house Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo will auction off the extraordinary piece at the weekend of 12 and 13 May 2018. The resulting sale price will be donated to the Children Action Foundation.

Aurel Bacs and Wilhelm Schmid announced the auction on 16 January 2018 at the SIHH booth of A. Lange & Söhne 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” with stainless-steel case and black enamel dial.

The proceeds will be donated to the Children Action Foundation. It is committed to the physical and mental well-being of needy children and young people all over the world. To date, more than 80,000 children have directly benefited from one of its projects. The motto of the foundation, which was founded in 1994 by the Swiss businessman Bernard Sabrier, is “Every child has a right to childhood”. The complete resulting sale price of the auction will be donated to the surgical programs of Children Action which have already enabled 12,482 operations.

“For us it was about keeping with the intentions of Walter Lange,” explained Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid about the choice of charity partner and added: “Throughout his life, the well-being of disadvantaged young people was a matter especially close to his heart. Personally, I was won over by the fact that Children Action works together exclusively with medical experts and guarantees the efficient allocation of the resources it is entrusted with.”

“Everyone knows that I love steel watches, and in particular steel watches that are elusive by nature, and officially impossible to find anywhere else,” said Aurel Bacs. “When Wilhelm Schmid showed me the unique 1815 ‘Homage To Walter Lange’ I was speechless, especially when I heard it would have a black enamel champlevé dial. I am so excited and humbled to be offering this piece in our Geneva Watch Auction: Seven and it is so wonderful that we can all help raise funds for Children Action, a highly important cause, close to my heart.”

The 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange”
Only one 1815 “Homage to Walter Lange” with black enamel dial and 40.5-millimetre steel case will be made, making it as extraordinary as the man whose name it bears. The classic dial design, reduced to only the essentials, is complemented by a stoppable jumping second hand. Walter Lange had a particular affinity for this complication because it traces its origins back to an invention of his great-grandfather Ferdinand Adolph Lange from 1867. A further-developed form was registered as one of the first patents in Germany in the year 1877.