A. Lange and Sohne 1815 Flyback Chrono 18K Rose Gold 414.031

The 1815 series is one of our personal favourites from A. Lange & Sohne, and the Flyback Chronograph 414.031 is perhaps the ultimate expression not only of the series, but also of what Lange is as a brand. It's one of the worlds great chronographs, no doubt about it.

Let’s start with the rose gold case which is a perfectly proportioned 39.5mm in diameter, 11.1mm thick, and 48.2mm lug-to-lug. Though definitely not thick, the recessed case back makes it feel even thinner than it is, and it's an extremely comfortable watch on the wrist. Where a Datograph can feel a touch top heavy unless teamed up with the deployant, there's none of that here.

It houses a matte black dial, topped with rose gold hands, and set against all white markers for maximum legibility, and completed with a white pulsometer outer track. It's this outer track that elevates this third generation series of 1815 Chrono to the top of the pile for a lot of Lange enthusiasts. While it was a feature of the first generation pieces, it was thicker, which created a smaller main dial and quite small subdials. Very charming, but not to everyone's tastes. The second generation missed out on this entirely, which was a misstep in our eyes, and for the third generation it was brought back but slightly thinner, with minute railway track and larger subdials creating the most cohesive of the dial layouts thus far.

While these small but significant changes on the dial side make for perhaps the best looking 1815 Chronograph, the star of the show is still undoubtedly on the reverse of the case. Like a mini-city filled with hundreds of years of watchmaking chops, the calibre L951.5 is absolutely astounding visually and technically and you could spend hours each day simply staring at it in awe. The use of German silver adds a warmth you don’t get with other movements, and helps accentuate the multi-layered construction. It’s phenomenal.

As well as being simply unbelievable to look at, this generation of the movement also features a 60 hour power reserve (the earlier versions only had 36) as well as a free sprung, adjustable balance. For these later pieces, it also featured Datograph-shaped escape wheel bridge.

This particular piece was sold locally in 2020 and presents in TZ 'Good' condition. The bezel shows very light swirlies and hairlines, as do the tops of the lugs. The brushed case band is extremely clean, with a couple of very minor rub marks. We've graded it as 'Good' rather than 'Near Mint' due to the presence of some nicks on the inside edges of the lugs, presumably from some strap changes. These are barely visible from the top looking down, and can only really be seen side-on once they've been pointed out. Please see images for full condition details.

It's mounted to a very fresh Lange 'gator strap in burgundy (looks almost brown), and affixed with the fantastic Lange tang buckle in rose gold. Buckle shows some minor scratching.

No service history, but a little too young for that. Keeping COSC time at 300+ degrees of amplitude, and all functions operating as they should.

Comes with outer sleeve, outer box, inner box, numbered cleaning cloth, instruction manual and guarantee manual (expired).

RRP on these is north of $120k AUD. Pick up this amazing example of what is perhaps the worlds greatest chronograph for far less.

Brand: A. Lange & Sohne

Year: 2020

Model #: 414.031

Case Material: 18k Rose Gold

Case details: 39.5mm

Movement: A. Lange & Sohne Manually Wound Chronograph Caliber L951.5

Dial: Black

Paraphernalia: Outer sleeve, outer box, inner box, numbered cleaning cloth, instruction manual and guarantee manual (expired)

TZ Grading: Good

Watch Vault utilises the TZ grading system. Please see below for details.