Two plain-faced beauties, the Patek Philippe Calatrava and A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia, go head to head in this comparison test from the WatchTime archives. Jens Koch gets in depth with the two timepieces.
Both watches are influenced by vintage models with simple dials.
A complication is a pretty thing, but it certainly doesn?t improve the legibility of a watch?s time display. And since the time of day is the most frequently sought information on a watch?s dial, it makes perfect sense to concentrate on the bare essentials: hours, minutes and perhaps also a subdial for the seconds hand to show that the watch is still running. Even the presence of a date display can detract from the perfect harmony and clarity of a dial. The beauty of A. Lange & Söhne?s Saxonia and Patek Philippe?s Calatrava Reference 5196 resides in their simplicity. Absolutely nothing superfluous can be found on these gorgeously pure wristwatches. Both brands rank among the world?s finest manufactures. And each has roots that reach back to the 19th century. Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded the original A. Lange & Söhne in the small town of Glashütte in the Kingdom of Saxony (in what is now eastern Germany) in 1845. Lange developed the three-quarters plate and built pocket watches famous for their high quality. They were universally acknowledged as the finest timepieces made in Germany. The company was disbanded in 1945, and only in 1990 was the A. Lange & Söhne name resurrected by a new co...