Lange 1A Gold, AP Mercedes 500K Skeleton, Glashütte Panamatic Lunar, Patek 5180 & Breguet Mini Repeater

The Lange 1A Gold is a 100-piece limited edition from 1998 that predates Lange’s entire Handwerkskunst line, packing a solid gold dial, gold escapement components and a sapphire caseback the standard Lange 1 never had. The AP Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster Skeleton in platinum is one of the rarest pieces in a series Audemars Piguet never marketed publicly, carrying a hand-engraved pre-war supercar across an ultra-thin caliber 2120 that traces back to the legendary 920 architecture. The Glashütte Original Panamatic Lunar 180th Anniversary Edition debuts the new caliber 92-14 with a 100-hour power reserve, an aventurine glass dial and the model’s first 950 platinum case. The Patek Philippe 5180-1R pushes skeletonization to an extreme, with 130 hours of hand engraving per piece and a mainspring barrel shaped into a Calatrava Cross. The Breguet 3637BA minute repeater carries the direct legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s 1783 gong spring invention, the mechanism still driving every repeater made today.

Watches in This Episode

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1A reference 112.021?

The Lange 1A reference 112.021 is a limited-edition variation of the Lange 1, produced in 1998 in a run of just 100 pieces to mark the opening of the brand’s new manufacture in Glashütte. The “A” stands for “Aurum,” Latin for gold, and the concept extends throughout the watch: a solid yellow gold dial with a gear-shaped pattern, gold-toned date discs, and escapement components including the lever and escape wheel crafted from solid gold rather than the usual steel. Inside runs the caliber L901.1 with twin barrels and a 72-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback the original closed-back Lange 1 never offered.

Why is the Lange 1A Gold considered historically significant?

The Lange 1A reference 112.021 holds the distinction of being the first limited edition A. Lange & Söhne produced in its modern era. Released in 1998, four years after the brand’s relaunch, it was created to celebrate the opening of a new manufacture in Glashütte. While Lange’s formal Handwerkskunst line did not debut until 2011, the Lange 1A anticipated that philosophy with hand engraving, tremblage finishing and elaborate dial work well beyond normal production standards. Many collectors regard it as a direct predecessor to the Handwerkskunst editions that define the brand’s highest craft today.

What is the Audemars Piguet Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster Skeleton?

The Audemars Piguet Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster Skeleton, reference 14710 BT, is a hand-engraved skeletonized dress watch produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The movement’s bridges serve as a canvas for a precisely engraved image of the pre-war Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster, capturing the car’s sweeping fenders, wire wheels, long hood and radiator grille in miniature. The case shown here is platinum, the rarest configuration in the series, while the movement is the ultra-thin caliber 2120, which traces its architecture back to the legendary caliber 920 shared historically across Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget.

What makes the platinum AP Mercedes-Benz 500K Skeleton particularly rare?

Audemars Piguet produced its vintage automobile skeleton series in very small quantities, with most estimates suggesting only a few dozen pieces per configuration depending on the metal used. Yellow gold is the configuration most commonly encountered, making the platinum case version significantly harder to find. The contrast between the gold-finished open-work movement and the platinum case is considered by collectors to be the most visually striking combination in the series. Production figures were never officially published by the brand, and these pieces were typically directed to specific collectors or distributors in select markets rather than sold through standard retail channels.

What is the Glashütte Original Panamatic Lunar 180th Anniversary Edition?

The Glashütte Original Panamatic Lunar 180th Anniversary Edition is a limited production of 180 pieces created to celebrate 180 years of watchmaking history in Glashütte, Germany. The watch marks several firsts for the model: its first use of an aventurine glass dial, a material containing copper particles that replicate the appearance of a starfield; its first 950 platinum case within the Panamatic Lunar line; and the debut of the new caliber 92-14 movement. The moon disc is rendered in mother-of-pearl, and the caseback displays Saxon finishing traditions including a three-quarter plate, Glashütte stripes and a hand-engraved balance bridge.

What is new about the caliber 92-14 inside the Panamatic Lunar Anniversary Edition?

The caliber 92-14 replaces a movement that had been in service for 20 years and delivers substantially improved specifications across both power reserve and magnetic resistance. Power reserve more than doubles, rising from 42 hours to 100 hours. The movement is also fitted with a silicon balance spring, which provides natural resistance to magnetic fields without additional shielding. These upgrades bring the Panamatic Lunar in line with modern technical benchmarks while preserving the Saxon finishing traditions the brand is known for, including Glashütte ribbing and a hand-engraved balance bridge visible through the caseback.

What is the Patek Philippe 5180-1R?

The Patek Philippe 5180-1R is a skeletonized dress watch in an 18k rose gold case and bracelet that eliminates the traditional dial entirely, replacing it with the open movement. Every bridge and plate has been hollowed by hand and then engraved with arabesque patterns using a steel burin, a process Patek Philippe calls its rare handcraft treatment, which takes approximately 130 hours per piece. Because each line is cut individually, no two movements are identical under a loupe. The rose gold version was introduced in 2017 and was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the caliber 240.

What is the significance of the caliber 240 in the Patek Philippe 5180?

The caliber 240 first appeared in 1977, during the height of the quartz crisis, when most of the industry was moving away from mechanical movements toward battery-powered alternatives. Patek Philippe went in the opposite direction and engineered one of the thinnest automatic movements ever produced. The key innovation was a micro rotor built directly into the movement rather than sitting on top of it, keeping total case thickness to 6.7 mm even with automatic winding. In the 5180, the mainspring barrel is skeletonized into the shape of the Calatrava Cross, and hands in black and white gold are used so they remain legible against the rose gold movement beneath them.

What is the Breguet 3637BA minute repeater and why does it matter?

The Breguet 3637BA is a minute repeater in an 18k yellow gold case built on the manually wound caliber 5627, derived from the Lemania 399 architecture and composed of approximately 340 components. Activating the repeater slide causes two hammer-struck coil gongs to chime the hours, quarters and minutes in sequence, with each movement tuned by hand to ensure tonal accuracy. A detail frequently overlooked is the sub-dial at 3 o’clock, which functions not as a second time zone but as a 24-hour day and night indicator, allowing the repeater to distinguish noon from midnight when chiming. The watch traces directly to Abraham-Louis Breguet, who in 1783 replaced the bells previously used in repeating watches with a coiled steel gong, an invention that remains the foundation of every minute repeater produced today.