We look back at the birth of one unlikely creation by Lange, the Odysseus
By 2019—more than two decades after its successful relaunch—A. Lange & Söhne was perched comfortably at the apex of German high-end watchmaking. Within a short span, the brand had started to command a cult-like following among aficionados. And, while Lange didn’t produce that many watches, it offered a tidy repertoire of classically refined and technically elevated collections that appealed to a mature and horologically informed audience.
In other words, there was no reason to rock the boat. But for a brand that lives by the motto “Never stand still”, Lange just had to switch things up. And in the most incongruous manner, too—by introducing a testosterone-laden steel sports watch that, with all due respect, appeared defiantly at odds with the brand’s mostly elegant and stately timepieces.
“Some people naturally complained. But that’s life,” said Anthony de Haas, A. Lange & Söhne’s director of product development, in another interview.
Their gripe? The epically monikered Odysseus, a robust yet elevated sports watch that unsettled collectors accustomed to Lange’s famed dress watches. However, de Haas also noted that pushback is natural for any new launch.
Certainly, there were many firsts that collectors had to contend with. The Odysseus was Lange’s first sports collection (and its first new collection since 2008). The first model from 2019 was also the brand’s first water-resistant offering, and the first regularly produced stainless steel collection.
Appearance-wise, the Odysseus flaunted a decidedly more dynamic disposition. Ostensibly made for collectors who wanted “a Lange watch to wear on the weekends”, the watch exudes sporty elegance in its polished 40.5mm case with a sculpted day and date adjuster on the right, five-link integrated bracelet that had been all the rage during that time, and outsized date display that made it an unmistakably Lange creation.
Revealing that the Odysseus took 10 years to create, de Haas said that every element of the watch had been fastidiously deliberated before its launch. “The amount of time invested and the many considerations that go into seemingly minor design variations are often underestimated (at first impression),” he said.
Interestingly, the protestations of the Odysseus’ naysayers at the time of its launch were quickly overturned by a tide of equally fervent and favourable responses. It didn’t take long for collectors to appreciate the virtues of the new collection—the original model satiated huge appetite for a steel Lange watch (until then, there had only been a small number of limited edition steel models).
Bolstered by the collection’s unique position as Lange’s only sports offering, accentuated by its distinctive look and a new in-house automatic movement, the Odysseus’ popularity began to spike. Following the inaugural steel model, Lange followed up with a version in white gold in 2020, a 250-piece iteration in titanium in 2022, and a 100-piece steel chronograph in 2023. To this day, the collection is one of Lange’s hottest sellers that commands long waiting lists.
When asked to reflect on the success of the Odysseus, de Haas opined that its creation was “without question” one of the most harrowing projects he had overseen at the brand, given the watch’s idiosyncratic spirit. But in the end, what began as an anomaly became a triumph. And it only goes to show that, sometimes, it pays to rock the boat.
