A writer of acclaimed books on horology, Reinhard Meis invested eight years to thoroughly revise his standard work dedicated to Germany's most famous watch brand A. Lange & Söhne which is highly coveted by watch enthusiasts all over the world. With his profoundly detailed knowledge, the author builds a bridge from the grand heritage of the brand in the 19th century to its current eminence at the pinnacle of international precision watchmaking.
Entitled "A Momentous Century - The Glashutte Watch Industry 1845-1945", the first volume constitutes a socio-political and historic foundation. It provides an account of the early days of precision horology in Saxony and features biographies of famous watchmakers. In detail, the author portrays watch manufactories, watchmaking workshops and suppliers, and the German School of Watchmaking. The result is a vivid picture of the watchmaking industry in Glashutte after the Lange manufactory was established in 1845.
The second volume, entitled "A. Lange & Söhne - The Watchmakers of Dresden", tells the story of Ferdinand A. Lange's life from his beginnings as a watchmaker in Dresden and the incorporation of the first manufactory to his ingenuity in mechanical design and his dedication to social causes. Tracing the brand's heyday under the auspices of Ferdinand's sons Richard and Emil, Reinhard Meis describes the subsequent expropriation of the manufactory after World War II and its re-establishment as Lange Uhren GmbH by Walter Lange, a member of the founding family's fourth generation. A compendium of current timepieces from the LANGE 1 to the LANGE ZEITWERK forms the conclusion of the second volume and corroborates the role of A. Lange & Söhne as one of the pacemakers of Europe's horological culture in the 21st century.
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