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WWII Lange & Söhne Lange Beobachtungsuhr, 1940s — view 1 of 6
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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

WWII Lange & Söhne Lange Beobachtungsuhr, 1940s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
A. Lange & Söhne (maker)
Date
1940s
Country of origin
Germany
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 55 mm
Stock no.
LNGSNBUHR
Credit line
Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (LNGSNBUHR)
Catalogue title (original)
1940s WWII Lange & Söhne Lange Beobachtungsuhr (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number LNGSNBUHR), this is a wristwatch by A. Lange & Söhne, made in Germany, dated 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 55 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Craft & Tailored

The origins of A. Lange & Söhne date back to 1845, when Ferdinand A. Lange, an exceptionally talented Dresden watchmaker, established his own company and began creating excellent pocket-watches that became highly coveted among collectors all over the world. During WWII, the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, commissioned 5 watch companies to build its watches fitting a very specific set of design criteria. Basically, the watch needed to be 55 millimeters and virtually indestructible. Lange delivered because 80 years later their aggressively named "Beobachtungsuhr" is still ticking. Stock # LNGSNBUHR Brand Lange & Söhne Style Beobachtungsuhr Model 127-560A-1 Serial 212XXX Size Men's Material Stainless Steel Dial Matte Black Millimeters 55 Strap 2pc Leather Strap CASE & BRACELET The 55mm stainless steel case is excellently preserved and shows some beautiful oxidation on the sides, which plays quite well with the patinated hands. The watch has short curved lugs and a fantastic oversize onion crown that is grip-able even in gloves. All of the watch's military markings remain present on the case back and on the side of the case. The fixed strap bars remain fully intact. The watch comes supplied on a 2pc leather strap. DIAL & HANDS The B-uhr was fitted with two dials, types A and B. Here we have the more sought-after B dial, with its fantastic 12-hour center ring. The dial is a beautiful matte black, allowing the subtle off-white numerals to lunge out and providing an ideal backdrop for the browns and creams of the massive sword hands. The dial itself remains in exceptional and original condition, showing almost no signs of age. The radium lume on the dial all remains remarkably fully intact when inspected under U.V. light. The original sword-style hour and minute hands and lumed center seconds hand have aged to a more vibrant color than the dial and display no degradation under U.V. light inspection. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is keeping time and functioning properly, previous service history is unknown.

Historical context

Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)

The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.

The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution

Atlas type guide

Military, pilot and travel watches

The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.

In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.

What to look for

  • Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
  • High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
  • 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
  • Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
  • Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
  • GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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