Adolph Lange was born in 1815 and began instruction as an apprentice watchmaker to J. C. Friedrich Gutkaes in his mid teens. His instructor oversaw a workshop in Dresden, where superb timepieces were made for illustrious patrons. In 1835, Adolph Lange completed his apprenticeship with honors. He was employed by Gutkaes for two years and then sought out the most respected chronometer makers in Europe to sharpen his expertise. In 1841, laden with new ideas he returned to Dresden to become a partner and also the force behind Gutkaes' factory. Together with Gutkaes, Lange created the eminent five-minute clock in Dresden's Semper Opera. It was in 1845, Adolph Lange established his first workshop near Dresden. His extraordinary skill altered horology for all time. He replaced the complicated Parisian system of lignes with the metric system and it was Lange who introduced the millimeter as the primary unit of measurement in watchmaking. In 1864, to enhance the stability of his watch movements, he introduced the three-quarter plate which is still a distinctive feature of watches from Glashütte. Adolph Lange had two sons: Richard and Emil. Not long prior to Lange's unforeseen death, they assumed the technical and commercial running of the company. Thus, the company was renamed A. Lange & Sohne in 1868. Traditional features of the A. Lange & Sohne watches include: the whiplash precision index adjuster, hand engraved balance cock, screwed gold chatons, three quarter plate, untreated German silver, blued screws, fusee and chain transmission and diamond end stones. Combined with the traditional features of A. Lange & Sohne watches, the team based in Saxony utilizes pioneering technology to craft their masterpieces. The Lange's outsize date was the first mechanism of its kind for wristwatches to offer an unusually large and highly legible date display. The watches are also famous for their balance springs, zero reset mechanisms, flybacks, precisely jumping minute counter, double rattrapante and perpetual calendar. Due to the vast investment in time and craftsmanship to create a Lange watch, only a small number are manufactured each year.