Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
A. Lange & Söhne · Odysseus
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 40 mm Slate Sapphire
Reference 78398OR.99
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- A. Lange & Söhne
- Collection
- Odysseus
- Model
- A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 40 mm Slate Sapphire
- Reference number
- 78398OR.99
- Year / era
- 1965 · 1960s — pre-quartz mechanical era
- Complication
- Moon phase
- Movement
- In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Dial type
- Slate grey
- Strap / bracelet
- Milanese mesh
- Water resistance
- 300 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 40 mm
- Case thickness
- 10.2 mm
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Bezel
- Emerald-set
- Crystal
- Flat sapphire with Cyclops lens
- Dial
- Slate grey
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- Milanese mesh
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 300 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 73C — In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Movement type
- High-frequency automatic
- Frequency
- 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 10 days
- Number of jewels
- 27 jewels
- Complications
- Moon phase
- Functions
- Chronograph, tachymeter, date
- Watchmaker
- Finishing, assembly and timing are carried out in the manufacture's own atelier.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1965 – 1970
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Consistently trades above retail; waiting lists at authorised dealers remain long.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 40 mm Slate Sapphire sits within A. Lange & Söhne's Odysseus line, introduced in 1965. It carries the house codes established since 1845 — sapphire crystal case case, slate grey dial and in-house automatic micro-rotor — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
A. Lange & Söhne
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1845
- Founder
- Ferdinand Adolph Lange
- Headquarters
- Germany
- Tier
- Ultra-Luxury & Haute Horlogerie
- Major collections
- Lange 1, Saxonia, Odysseus, Datograph, Zeitwerk, 1815, Richard Lange
- Signature technologies
- Composite and ceramic case materials · In-house hairspring production
- Famous movements
- In-house tourbillon, manual-winding · In-house manual-winding, hand-finished · In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor · In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Notable watches
- A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 40 mm Slate Platinum (1978) · A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 39 mm Green Stainless (1969) · A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 44 mm Blue Quartz (1954) · A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 41 mm Silvered Quartz (1973)
Brand history
A. Lange & Söhne has spent more than 181 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Lange 1, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Ferdinand Adolph Lange established A. Lange & Söhne in 1845, working from Germany at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every A. Lange & Söhne calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1845
Ferdinand Adolph Lange founds A. Lange & Söhne in Germany.
1885
A. Lange & Söhne earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces A. Lange & Söhne to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
A. Lange & Söhne enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
A. Lange & Söhne continues to produce Lange 1, Saxonia, Odysseus and other icons in limited numbers.
More Odysseus
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 42 mm Mother-of-pearl 18k
Ref. 22293OR.13
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 38 mm Mother-of-pearl Stainless
Ref. 72267ST.31
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 41 mm Mother-of-pearl Quartz
Ref. 22065OR.89
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 44 mm Blue 18k
Ref. 29853OR.35
A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus 40 mm Skeletonised 18k
Ref. 91343OR.98