A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Annual Calendar 36mm Review: Utility Meets Understated Elegance

A. Lange & Sohne's Saxonia Annual Calendar has been a presence in the brand's collection since 2010, and hasn't strayed very far from its original, elegant design. That is still mostly the case with the new Saxonia Annual Calendar 36 introduced just recently at Watches & Wonders, but in keeping with Lange's traditional mission statement of subtle evolution over drastic revolution, the two new models feature a new, more understated sizing and an updated movement, along with very subtle new dial details. In the review below, our contributor Carol Besler examines the new models in depth.

Classically Balanced Design

The A. Lange & Söhne aesthetic is one of the purist expressions of classic watchmaking, and the German manufacture’s annual calendar is therefore, not surprisingly, one of the most understated expressions of that complication. While its version of the complication features its signature outsized date, which may seem like an imposing feature, in the case of the annual calendar, it actually makes the dial more understated and legible in my view than others in the genre —  including, I would argue, those from the annual calendar’s creator, Patek Philippe. It eliminates the need for either one more cumbersome subdial or an added central arrow hand pointing to a date index on the dial periphery – an addition that can impose something of a tool-watch look if it’s big enough to be legible. On the Saxonia Annual Calendar, you can’t miss the date, which is arguably the most important function, but the rest of the indications are discreetly understated.

A New Mid-Range Size Option

The real news about the Saxonia Annual Calendar is its introduction in a smaller size – 36mm – at Watches and Wonders Geneva last month. Traditional, minimalist dress watches, especially designs that offer a complication without clutter, are my personal preference, but I have a small wrist, and until lately, I have found most of Lange’s best offerings to be too big. That began to change last year with the launch of the 34mm 1815 models (down from 38.5mm). This year, Lange gives us a newly compact Saxonia Annual Calendar measuring 36mm, down from 38.5mm for the original (launched in 2010 and phased out in the early 2020s). By then, the brand’s new annual calendar movement, automatic Caliber L207.1, was in the works, and it’s not just compact, but optimized in several ways. It’s the same width as its predecessor, L085.1, despite having a central platinum central rotor, compared to the offset micro-rotor in the L085.1. But what it gains is a 60-hour power reserve, compared to the previous 42 hours. The classic screw balance operates at a frequency of 21,600.

There was no tradeoff on aesthetics in the process of going 2.5mm smaller, despite the presence of the big date (or as Lange refers to it, the “outsize date”). All the functions are scaled to fit the smaller dial, and it does not look cluttered, partly because of the smaller bezel (a major bonus for those of us who prefer small or even no-bezel watch designs to all-out fully marked or fluted types; there are no dive watches on this writer’s grail list). Mostly, however, it’s because of the effort on Lange’s part to keep the dial completely in proportion.

Downsizing and Dial Updates

Instead of hosting contrasting subdials for days, months, and moon phase, the dial is monotone, with only a slight recess to distinguish the registers from the base dial in 925 silver. Another differentiator is the slight flanges on the subdials, which are finished in a filigreed azurage pattern – a ring of tightly spaced concentric grooves that give way to more widely spaced grooves on the inner subdials. They are all but indistinguishable in color from the main dial, but the finish, says Lange, “creates a reflecting surface that intensifies the three-dimensional effect of the dial.” The auxiliary dials are otherwise marked on their peripheries in small, contrasting indications: months at 3 o’clock, days at 9 o’clock, and a seconds track at 6 o’clock. The moon-phase stands out slightly in this arrangement, but serves the purpose of balancing the big date at 12.

The result is a dial that is traditional, proportional, and pure. The Saxonia Annual Calendar 36mm has everything the larger version had, plus a longer power reserve and a more wearable fit. Plus a couple of other tweaks: the baton-shaped applied hour indexes have been given a subtly fancy (oxymoron?) redesign: the ends taper to a kind of pyramid shape, like a rounded point in a clous-de-Paris pattern. The hands and indexes are either rose or white gold, depending on the model. Another big improvement is the addition of Lange’s rapid-correction pusher, which allows you to use a single external pusher at 10 o’clock to advance all the annual calendar indications forward by a day.

The Watch Industry's New Favorite Complication?

Annual Calendars are having a moment right now, possibly because they are a prestigious complication but without the busy-ness or the price of a perpetual calendar, but none that come to mind are as compact as the new Saxonia. By contrast, two other stellar annual calendars launched at Watches and Wonders this year, courtesy of none other than Patek Philippe, the inventor of the complication, but both are larger. The Annual Calendar Ref 5396R-016 has a gorgeous rose-gold on rose-gold dial, but measures 38.5mm x 11.25mm, and has a wider bezel; and the Ref. 4946G-001 Annual Calendar, with a hip denim dial, is only slightly smaller at 38 x 11.23. The Saxonia Annual Calendar is priced in Euros at €65,000. 

Final Thoughts

The dial of the Saxonia Annual Calendar may be understated, but the movement is lavishly finished according to the standard of all A. Lange & Söhne watches — as dictated, Lange likes to point out, by the Royal Saxon Court of the 19th century. These standards include delicate surface polishes, screwed gold chatons, and of course, the brand’s signature hand-engraved balance cock, done with a deep, free-hand engraving, a process that has become deeper and sharper over the last few years and is very representative of the brand itself. According to Lange, a buyer’s initials are occasionally incorporated in very tiny letters into the filigree design. If the smaller size, thinner bezel, longer power reserve, easy adjustment system, and the rarity of these pieces in general (Lange only makes around 5,000 watches a year) aren’t enough of an enticement, that single piece of customization alone should be enough to reel you in.

For more information, head to the brand's website here.