The Magnificent A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Honeygold

The Odysseus disembarked at A. Lange & Söhne in 2019, making a big splash as the brand’s first serially produced stainless steel luxury sports watch with an “integrated” steel bracelet and 120m water-resistance. Thanks to its unique personality and unmistakable provenance, the Odysseus rowed against many stylistic conventions established by top-tier luxury sports watches. During Watches & Wonders 2025, Lange unveiled an Odysseus touched by Midas with a solid gold case and bracelet. A stunning marriage of beauty and Saxon pragmatism, let’s take a closer look at the magnificent Odysseus Honeygold.

A quick recap about the Odysseus concept and collection

Unveiled in 2019, the maiden voyage of Lange’s sixth watch family, Odysseus, was not all smooth sailing. Received with mixed reviews, Frank Geelen, our editor-in-chief, suggested that the best way to understand this watch was to cast aside all preconceptions of the luxury sports watch incarnated by the usual suspects. For starters, the Odysseus was not a 1970s-inspired watch; it was not an ultra-thin model, it did not have a barrel-shaped case, and it did not feature a geometric bezel. Despite his reticence about the choice of name, he concluded that the original personality of the watch, its almost Zeitwerk-ish display with two framed windows for the signature Lange outsize date and day of the week, its incredibly well-executed case and bracelet, the superlative finishes and robust movement with a 50-hour power reserve had conspired to create a Lange model through and through that captivated him from the start.

The name of the watch was intentional, and like the Greek hero who fought for decades to make his way back home to Ithaca, the initial concept of the Odysseus had been forged 15 years earlier.

In 2021, the Odysseus resurfaced in a white gold case with a rubber strap (left above), followed by a full-titanium edition (right above) in 2022 with a predominance of sandblasted surfaces. Two years ago, the Odysseus Chronograph made another splash, this time powered by Lange’s first automatic chronograph movement.

The Odysseus Honeygold

All things being equal, what sets this model apart is the use of Lange’s proprietary gold alloy, Honeygold. A top-secret alloy developed for Lange in 2010 with a unique colour comparable to that of honey and reserved for Lange’s most exclusive timepieces, Honeygold is as delectable as its name suggests. Harder than platinum and other gold alloys – and therefore much more challenging to shape and finish – Honeygold has a subtle and elegant tone that cannot be compared to more brazen yellow gold. Like a chameleon, Honeygold changes tone depending on the light, shifting from a delicate rose gold to a more muted white gold.

As mentioned, the Odysseus does not conform to the usual specifications of luxury sports watches and does not flaunt an ultra-slim profile. Retaining the original case size of 40.5mm diameter x 11mm thickness, the solid gold case and bracelet of the Odysseus ensure a commanding presence on the wrist. However, the well-executed case and its ergonomics go a long way in making this a comfortable but admittedly heavy watch (?246 grams). For collectors accustomed to the lightweight properties of titanium, the weight might be off-putting, but in my books, there is nothing more reassuring or luxurious than feeling the warmth and heft of a quarter-kilo of solid gold on the wrist. Fair enough, it is not going to work on small wrists, but it looks absolutely stunning on Denis’ 18cm wrist.

With its rounded and polished bezel, the asymmetrical case has a module flanking the crown. Often confused with crown guards, the pushers are used to adjust the day and date functions. Like a hood extending over the case middle, the sleek polished gold pushers are opened on the side to reveal the round case middle with its brushed and sandblasted finishes. Despite having a screw-down crown to ensure the 120-metre depth rating, fitting a watch with pushers is always a risk, and to avoid accidents, these are equipped with gaskets.

The five-link bracelet reflects Lange’s commitment to beauty coupled with pragmatism. As the Saxon watchmaker par excellence, Lange equips its watches with practical features to make them as user-friendly as possible. The lateral module on this watch is one example, but so is the beautiful tapering 5-link Honeygold bracelet. Although it looks like a fully integrated bracelet, it is fitted between the long and powerful lugs and cannot be exchanged.

The aesthetic component of the bracelet can be appreciated in the way each of the rounded Honeygold links is finished by hand, and how the brushed finish on top contrasts with the brightly polished bevels. Pragmatism also comes into play with the ingenious 7mm extension system fitted on the deployant clasp. By simply applying pressure to the ALS logo on the clasp, the length can be adjusted by 7mm without having to open the buckle. There is also a similar, apparently straightforward way to remove links in the bracelet. Thanks to a small, recessed pusher on the underside of the outer links, the links can be slid out with the tool provided, but we didn’t dare put it to the test. The only downside to the 7mm adjustment system is that the clasp is quite thick.

If Honeygold captures the colour of honey, the brown dial evokes the taste of chocolate – or for cigar lovers, maybe even the smell of a hand-rolled Cuban Cohiba Behike. Sticking to Lange’s distinctive design language, the dial features two large, framed windows at 3 and 9 o’clock for the oversized date on two discs and the day of the week, arranged in a similar manner to Lange’s Zeitwerk with its digital time display.

Another much-appreciated feature of the day and date indications is their size. Framed in polished Honeygold, the 2.4mm height of the white numerals for the outsize date and letters for the day of the week makes them extremely legible. Honeygold is also used to craft the lancet hour and minute hands and prominent indices applied to the embossed grooves on the chapter ring. To highlight its sporty nature, the indices are treated with luminescent material, like the hour and minute hands.

The three-dimensional effect of the dial is achieved with different textures and different heights. The grooved chapter ring, for example, rises above the smooth matte central area of the dial. The small seconds counter at 6 o’clock cuts into the chapter ring and imitates the design of the main dial with its embossed grooves and matte centre. The dial also features a minutes scale printed on the golden flange with a red numeral 60.

The view from the rear reveals L155.1 Datomatic automatic movement. A robust and reliable movement, the Datomatic is primed for daily wear and tear and, like all Lange watches, is assembled twice and manually decorated with superlative artisanal finishes. The openworked platinum rotor bearing the Datomatic name glides over the untreated German silver bridge with Glashütte ribbing and delivers energy to the mainspring barrel that can store 50 hours of power. The balance, beating at 28,800vph for greater stability, is firmly suspended beneath a transversal bridge (instead of the traditional cock) to improve shock resistance and decorated with hand-engraved waves to evoke the water-resistance of the watch.

Thoughts & price

Unlike most interpretations of the luxury sports watch, the Odysseus has an original personality that reflects its rich and unequivocal Lange legacy. Its robust build and movement are designed for everyday wear and tear and enhanced with practical, user-friendly features like the pushers to adjust the date and day and the ingenious extension system hidden in the clasp. Beautifully crafted inside and out, the marriage of elegant Honeygold and chocolate brown is a match made in heaven. What is surprising, however, is how it manages to be luxurious but not ostentatious, a quality that is not often found in the solid gold watch department. The downside, no doubt, resides in its price. Limited to 100 pieces, the price is upon request, but it retails for approximately EUR 110,000.

More information at alange-soehne.com.