Prey for the Hunted

There is a great interview with Jay Mohr where talks about the best item he owns being his gold Rolex. He says he loves it  because when you are wearing a Rolex you can still get into a strip club even if you are wearing a sweat suit. While I think Jay is pretty funny this comment wreaks of the Douche-ness that comes from most dudes who own an expensive watch. For many It is a way to flash some cash and to speak a language that all gold digging broads understand.

While I am no horologist I have read enough to understand why some exceptional timepieces command astronomical asking prices. One such company that flys under the radars of your average rich douche bag is A. Lange & Söhne .

A. Lange & Söhne was founded in 1841 by celebrated craftsman and watchmaker Adolph Lange. Lange traveled Europe to refine his craft and was commission to build intricate one off time pieces for monarchs and aristocrats from Paris to Moscow. When he returned to his noble home in Germany he selected one of the country’s poorest communities to set up shop and build the business bearing his name. He recruited 15 talented young men from the impoverished town and transformed them into consummate watchmakers. Lange is credited with the introduction of metric unit of measure the millimeter to watch making and his watches were considered so precise they were used by the Germans scientific community for timing scientific observations. The A. Lange & Söhne company helped the impoverished town to flourished and Glashütte is now considered the epicenter of German watch making.

There is a surprising number of choices If you are looking to spend $25k on a watch so take a few minutes to learn about the brand’s history, their construction, and movement. Many of these watches take professional watchmakers over a hundred hours to assemble and should be revered for their craftsmanship. Buy a watch like a piece of art not some shiny bracelet designed to score you some stripper poon.