Lange 1 Daymatic

[wuyangkid]

That is beautiful, both front and back

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[Nav01L]

Originally Posted by Jocke

The new blue one is a grail watch, so cool with the different place of date and everything else. Much more balanced then a "regular" Lange 1.

One day I hope get one.

Man, not sure I follow you there, while the orientation of the time display might make more sense objectively, it will always be „backwards“

[gordon86]

Reviving the chat. 2 years on and what does everyone think about the daymatic? The orientation should be more acceptable given the launch of the L1 perpetual. The daymatic is a discontinued reference that I think deserves more love. Its hard to find one now in the wild or secondary market

[vitalsigns]

Great watch and a really nice automatic movement. The orientation still doesn't sit right with me, but that's just aesthetic preference and bias in favor of the original L1 layout that's been seared in my brain for 20+ years. The piece is also 39.5mm, which is a bit better size (entirely wrist dependent, of course), so that's a plus.

[fullofboats]

Originally Posted by gordon86

Reviving the chat. 2 years on and what does everyone think about the daymatic? The orientation should be more acceptable given the launch of the L1 perpetual. The daymatic is a discontinued reference that I think deserves more love. Its hard to find one now in the wild or secondary market

I wear mine far more than the L1. The day of the week indicator is far more useful than a power reserve and being an automatic it’s much more convenient as well. I suspect it may also gain popularity as ppl realise it’s the only automatic L1 and that it was produced for less than 10 years.

[Nav01L]

Originally Posted by gordon86

Reviving the chat. 2 years on and what does everyone think about the daymatic? The orientation should be more acceptable given the launch of the L1 perpetual. The daymatic is a discontinued reference that I think deserves more love. Its hard to find one now in the wild or secondary market

The basic shape of a Lange 1’s dial is a triangle that opens up towards the wearer’s hand, and the back of the wearer’s hand extends those lines, if you reverse the triangle without putting the watch onto the other wrist, it introduces visual tension where an ordinary L1 would create harmony. That can be off putting, whether consciously or subconsciously.

The movement, while spectacular and particularly remarkable in how little thickness it adds to the watch, is not really in keeping with the 3/4 plate architecture you’d expect to see in a L1. While that’s not relevant to assess the merits of a good watch, it can be extremely relevant in assessing something that presents itself as a L1.

The L1 has gained such an iconic status that any deviation you make from the original formula feels derivative. And so the Daymatic does just that, impressive though it may be in a vacuum. The perpetual is different, as its complication justifies the departures from the format to a much greater extent than things you don’t really need, like a rotor or the band aid of a day indication to save the design over the fact that a power reserve would have had limited purpose in an automatic that would supposedly be worn actively enough to keep it wound.

As for daily wearability, my Zeitzone is certainly sneaking into becoming a daily companion on office days, where neither our toddler, nor our life in the mountains puts it in any jeopardy, but I certainly wouldn’t take it out on hikes or wear it during diaper duty.

[CFR]

Originally Posted by Nav01L

The basic shape of a Lange 1’s dial is a triangle that opens up towards the wearer’s hand, and the back of the wearer’s hand extends those lines, if you reverse the triangle without putting the watch onto the other wrist, it introduces visual tension where an ordinary L1 would create harmony .... The movement, while spectacular and particularly remarkable in how little thickness it adds to the watch, is not really in keeping with the 3/4 plate architecture you’d expect to see in a L1. .... The perpetual is different, as its complication justifies the departures from the format to a much greater extent than things you don’t really need, like a rotor or the band aid of a day indication to save the design over the fact that a power reserve would have had limited purpose in an automatic that would supposedly be worn actively enough to keep it wound.

These are really interesting observations about the Daymatic (which I like but don't own). Thanks for sharing them.

I wear watches on my right hand, so I am desensitized or habituated to any visual tension that might exist when wearing a regular Lange 1 (on my right hand). I'm curious if others experience that visual tension (vs. harmony) depending upon which hand they see the watch on. I had never considered or heard of that before.

The automatic movement in the Daymatic is indeed spectacular. My "challenge" with the Daymatic's movement is that the Sax-0-Mat movement had set a very, very high bar. I fell in love with the Sax-0-Mat's micro-rotor and architecture as soon as I saw it. It became iconic in my mind. As a result, whenever I see any Lange movement with a large central rotor, I (perhaps irrationally) perceive it as not quite what I'd want. If only Helmut Geyer had never designed the Sax-0-Mat movement...

Lastly, for me, the biggest appeal of the Daymatic is that the dial displays all three of things that I actually need to know, but don't always know, on a regular basis: the time, date, and day. I often don't know the date, and I sometimes don't know the day. So I really liked it when Lange added the day to the face of the Lange 1. I thought it was clever to replace the Lange 1's power reserve indicator (largely unnecessary on an automatic movement, though it's kind of cool on the Grosse Langematik Gangreserve) with the Daymatic's day indicator.

Thanks again for sharing those interesting thoughts.

[I always thought the Daymatic would be more interesting to consumers. I thought it'd be a big hit when it was introduced. I was wrong.]

[Redbox]

Originally Posted by glamorama

I almost forgot by now. But there were several factors, I had both WG and YG DD40 and sold both. I wouldn’t mind to have the WG in black or perhaps white dial again. At the time I just wasn’t impressed with much on the DD40 grey dial I had. The finishing was just sub-standard to a grand Seiko I used in the trade. As an example, the sides of batons were not polished whereas they are mirror on GS. But the main issue for me was fit of bracelet, or rather lack of it. My wrist is quite small so contracts and expands quite a bit. Usually it was loose but I remember once on the plane I was almost strangling my wrist.

The improvements I’d like to see on DD40 are some sort of micro adjustment to the president bracelet. Like VC Overseas that have 2x2mm quick adjustment. Secondly, better finished dial batons. Extra perfect would be an “invisible” annual calendar. Thinner would be nice too. The size and proportions are very good compared to DDII.

Having said all that, I do recommend the DD40. It looks great and can do anything. A DD40 and GMT/Sub is all one need.

I have the new Moon Phase Lange with the black dial. Love that watch. You can't go wrong with it.

I also have a DD40 that I am going to sell. I love that also, but the problem this the lack of adjustment on the bracelet and reading the dial in low light. It is the blue dial with romans.

I have the Grand Seiko Skyflake. The way Seiko has cut and polished the markers is amazing. It is 10 times easier to read in low light than the DD.

[gordon86]

As expected there are mixed feelings about the daymatic. When i initially looked at lange 1 i was drawn in by lange 1 and lange 1 mp. But the size at 38.5 was a bit on the small size which i think the daymatic at 39.5 suits me better. The practicality of the dial (i wear my watch on my left wrist) and having daydate complication was what really sway me towards the daymatic. It takes some getting used to the reverse orientation but once your eyes are used to it doesnt really affect much. Monochrome watch did a great write up on both watches comparison using the 2018 blue dial release

And i also realized that with the L1, there is an overlap of the 2 subdials but less so with the daymatic which once i see it i cant unsee it

The daymatic blue has been a grail watch for it and finding it has been tough as i heard there is only 70 pcs produced. Having said so, i also dream of a honey gold L1 if i can ever afford it. Both are stunning in their own right and deserve all the attention. I just felt that daymatic has been underappreciated for a long time and hopefully wjth the perpetual release, people will be more open to the orientation and appreciate it for what it is, a practical well constructed watch with a useful daydate complicatio

[Nav01L]

Originally Posted by CFR

The automatic movement in the Daymatic is indeed spectacular. My "challenge" with the Daymatic's movement is that the Sax-0-Mat movement had set a very, very high bar. I fell in love with the Sax-0-Mat's micro-rotor and architecture as soon as I saw it. It became iconic in my mind. As a result, whenever I see any Lange movement with a large central rotor, I (perhaps irrationally) perceive it as not quite what I'd want. If only Helmut Geyer had never designed the Sax-0-Mat movement...

That I concur with 100%, and it has the beauty of translating the concept of the 3/4 plate into an automatic.

I think folks really don’t get the 3/4 plate for the most part. But when you come to understand what makes it so special and how it’s related to the gold chatons that have become so emblematic of the brand, movements with more conventional bridge layout seem a bit lacking for a Lange 1.

[Poncekim]

The blue daymatic was my first lange and nice watch.

Ironically, I bought it over the datograph bc I lived it size for my smaller wrist size, but now feels a bit small.

I don't know if you know, but there is one available on chrono24.

[Jimbo]

I thought the layout of the Daymatic was more "logical" for right handed people in that when you wear it on your left wrist, as a dress watch, you don't have to pull on your cuff to expose the full dial to read the time.

Since the hour/minutes are now on the right side of the dial, you just need to poke the watch a little out of your cuff to read the time. Kinda more discrete if that makes sense.

[gordon86]

Originally Posted by Poncekim

The blue daymatic was my first lange and nice watch.

Ironically, I bought it over the datograph bc I lived it size for my smaller wrist size, but now feels a bit small.

I don't know if you know, but there is one available on chrono24.

Oh i personally feel the datograph is too thick. The daymatic is perfect for my wrist!

Oh i dont seem to be able to find the listing. Can you DM me the link?