The 17 Best Watches at Audrain Motor Week in Newport, Rhode Island
This weekend marked the annual Audrain Motor Week in Newport, Rhode Island, sponsored by A. Lange & Söhne. The event takes place throughout the weekend across planned stops, culminating with the Concours at The Breakers mansion along the coast of the Atlantic ocean. The weekend brings together enthusiasts and collectors of all stripes, and in addition to some truly special automobiles, there were plenty of amazing watches to be seen in the crowd. Much like the cars roaring through the streets, there was an impressive variety of watches on the wrists of participants and onlookers, from vintage Heuer Autavia, to the expected Rolex, and of course, a whole lot of A. Lange & Söhne.
Newport boasts an extensive history with automotive culture, making it a natural host for the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week, which was formalized in 2019. The goals of this event, and of Audrain Motorsport as a whole, is to preserve, share, and celebrate automotive history through engaging events, drives, and shows. Each of these comes together in Newport for the Motor Week, giving collectors a venue to share and experience their cars and motorcycles with passionate enthusiasts from around the world. The shared love and respect for mechanical craftsmanship is something shared with watch enthusiasts, and indeed the overlap between these two worlds is large.
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This is the second year that the Audrain Motor Week in Newport has been sponsored by A. Lange & Söhne, and it’s a marriage born of passion. The German brand’s CEO, Wilhelm Schmid, who previously spent eight years at BMW—and has a well documented love of historic automobiles—positioned his brand alongside the cars being exhibited at the Audrain Concours for good reason. These cars and the watches being produced by A. Lange & Söhne share a deep emotional touchpoint in their attention to detail and commitment to their craft.
There is a certain artistry being expressed here, not because it’s necessary, but because it’s important to how we understand and appreciate the cars on display, and the watches coming out of Glasshute since 1994 from A. Lange & Söhne. A look under the hood of a 1939 BMW 328 Roadster offers a similarly exhilarating experience as turning over a Datograph for the first time. This is the nature of Lange’s connection to what appears on the lawn at The Breakers, and it’s a line that distinguishes their excellence.
I was on hand at the Audrain Motor Week in Newport to get a first hand look at the hardware both on wheels, and on the wrists of its attendees. Amongst the scenic backdrop of Newport’s famous cliff walk, I found a lot to love, including some of the rarest, most complicated A. Lange & Söhne watches on the planet. Oh, and I also found Jay Leno enjoying a recently acquired Lange 1 Time Zone. Here’s everything I saw.
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A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk
The Zeitwerk is among A. Lange & Söhne’s most conceptually interesting watches, running with the digital concept to remove a central hand stack altogether. The hour and minutes are read via oversized apertures at either side of the dial, with the running seconds sitting at 6 o’clock. This example gets a platinum case and silver dial fitted to a custom bright crocodile strap.
A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Up/Down
The 1815 Up/Down utilizes a pair of sub dials placed just under the centerline of the hand stack to show the power reserve, and the running seconds, echoing the look of the chronographs within the same family. This example features a yellow gold case and silver dial.
Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167/a
It wouldn’t be an automotive event without spotting a Patek Philippe 5167, and this one did not disappoint. What I love about this particular example is just how much wear and tear was showing on the case and strap, boasting how much use it gets in all manner of conditions, just as it should be.
A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Thin
The Saxonia thin proves that A. Lange & Söhne can do formalwear as well as anyone, with a graceful yellow gold case that measures 37mm in diameter, and a mere 5.9mm in thickness. This one says a lot without saying much at all.
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Titanium
In 2019, A. Lange & Söhne launched the Odysseus, a sport watch featuring an automatic movement, representing uncharted territory for the brand. The collection welcomed this titanium variation in 2021 with a stunning bracelet of the same material, painstakingly polished at each link. This is a truly spectacular take on the Odysseus, and a rather rare sight given its limited availability.
Rolex Datejust 126231 ‘Wimbledon’ Dial
This 36 mm Rolex Datejust in pink gold Rolesor with a Wimbledon dial looks exceptional in the sunlight against a backdrop of bright grass and even brighter cars. It’s not the cliche watch to spot at an event like this, making it a refreshing sight.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar
The Lange 1 has welcomed a few complications over the years, and this inclusion of a perpetual calendar via the caliber L021.3 is perhaps the most interesting of the bunch. Rather than reside in an aperture or sub dial, the month rotates around the dial’s perimeter, while the day of the week takes up the space where we’d typically expect the power reserve. It’s a beautiful execution seen here in platinum on the wrist of Mr. Wilhelm Schmid himself.
IWC DaVinci Perpetual Calendar 3751
This watch was a pleasant surprise at the show, representing one of IWC’s finest from the ‘90s. The 3751 pairs the Kurt Claus calendar design with the rattrapante design of Richard Habring, making for one of the most interesting and complex watches made by the brand. It also looks distinctly ‘90s thanks to the exceptional link to the strap.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1
It’s tough to be the simple yet complex beauty of the Lange 1. The complexity comes from the seemingly disparate nature of the elements set across the dial, but the balance they manage to achieve thanks to their layout is simple and easy to understand. It also stands quite unique, and in some ways, serves as the face of the brand. Seen here in yellow gold with a silver dial.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Small Seconds
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is an icon, and the Tribute models capture the essence of the design in a perfect modern package. This example with a small seconds dial is set to a brilliant Fagliano strap in blue, and looked stunning against the attendee’s suit.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Moonphase with Aventurine Dial
The Lange 1 is one of the four original watches launched with the brand’s reemergence in 1994, and it’s changed very little in the years since. This example in white gold features a stunning aventurine dial that bestows a unique personality, especially in sunlight, that perfectly balances the inclusion of the moonphase complication within the subsidiary seconds.
Heuer Autavia 1163
Plenty of vintage sport watches were seen in the crowd, and this vintage Heuer Autavia reference 1163 T with the ‘Viceroy’ colorway was a favorite. The bezel appears to be from an earlier example, but the dial with the full 12 hours of the recording listed out, is unique to Autavia history.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down
In 2012, the Datograph saw its first major update, moving to a slightly larger 41mm case, and welcoming a new Up/Down power reserve complication at 6 o’clock, dubbed the Up/Down. This example features a black dial in a platinum case, echoing the original released in 1999.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph with ‘Meter’ Dial
When the Datograph was released in 1999, it changed the game of high-end, hand winding chronograph. This is among the early examples produced, with the so-called ‘Meter’ dial that was corrected around 2005. Another detail that makes this particular example so stunning is the inclusion of the platinum bracelet.
A. Lange & Söhne Cabaret with Gray Dial
Sadly, the Cabaret family is no longer produced by A. Lange & Söhne, but this example spotted at The Breakers shows just well the family is aging. This watch uses an exceptionally rare gray dial and is mated to its square platinum case and Wellendorf bracelet, bringing the absolute best of the collection to life. Just 25 examples of this watch were produced, and it was a sleeper hit of the show.
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone
This is Lange’s take on the world timer complication within the Lange 1 family, and it features the ability to cycle through the world’s time zones with the press of a button, all without losing track of home time. It’s also one of the most interesting looking Lange 1 watches made. This example, as worn by Jay Leno, gets a stunning black dial set within a white gold case.
A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold ‘Lumen’
Finally, the star of the show here (as far as watches are concerned), was the Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon in Honeygold with a Lumen dial. This watch was released earlier this year in celebration of the Datograph’s 25th anniversary, and it doesn’t hold back on the goods. Not only is this the brand’s rarest dial and case combo, it backs it up with their stunning perpetual calendar caliber L952.4. Yes, the view is just as good around back as good as the front.
