A. LANGE & SÖHNE’S MUSIC MAN
When one thinks of chiming watches, there are many brands that provide instant recall, but for decades A. Lange & Söhne was not one of them. A maker of the most exquisite German watches, Lange is synonymous with finishing and precision rather than petite and grande sonneries. But, Director of Product Development Anthony de Haas embarked on a mission to change that when he joined the company 13 years ago.
De Haas already had an illustrious career before Lange. After graduating, he went to IWC to work under the legendary Günter Blümlein. “I met him in my second week,” he laughs. “I was going up the stairs and he was coming down. He was the big boss and I was shaking as I said: ‘Good morning.’ He looked at me, stopped and said: ‘Good morning. So, you must be the new Dutch guy?’ I nodded before he replied: ‘Welcome to the company. I wish you lots of success here.’ He continued on his way, leaving me open-mouthed. There were hundreds of people working there and he knew about me – a young Dutch watchmaker just starting out. After that I didn’t have much to do with Mr Blümlein, because he was leading three major brands [Jaeger-LeCoultre and A. Lange & Söhne, as well as IWC] and, as a watchmaker, I did not sit down with him on a daily basis.”
But two-and-a-half years later, when de Haas gave notice to leave IWC and take Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APRP), Mr Blümlein called him to his office to ask why his young gun wanted to leave. “This is something he always did, he was very interested in what was going on,” says de Haas. “I told him I had the possibility to work at Renaud & Papi who he knew very well as the first project APRP did was for IWC. He asked if I would stay if I could make complicated watches, but I explained that Renaud & Papi was my dream, that it was different to anywhere else.
