Impressive But Not (Yet) Iconic

The Odysseus

According to Monochrome, "It is the Lange that you’ll wear anytime, anywhere, with anything...It is the Lange you’ll wear this summer drinking a glass of wine on the beach wearing a linen shirt and shorts."

In theory, this is perfection. In practice, here are the pros and cons:

Pros:

- Dial: "A home run with its use of textures, layers, and accents to create just the right level of visual interest."Quill&Pad

- Rarity: It's entirely new, and that's something to celebrate.

- Symmetry: Brilliantly balanced day and date complication.

- Movement: See picture below.

Cons:

- Bracelet: Unfortunately, the bracelet puts the odd in Odysseus. This might be mixing mythological metaphors, but the bracelet is its Achilles heel. It's too wide, awkward, and it detracts from the watch's overall appearance.

- Bezel: Soft, smooth, and round--a touch too formal for a sports watch

When it comes to über everyday watches, you could do much worse than the Odysseus. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to do better.

As Watchfinder asserts in the video below, "I’d Choose This Over A Patek Philippe Nautilus."

For the reasons shown in this video, I'd pick the Lange (on a strap, of course) over its "Holy Trinity" rivals from Patek, AP, and Vacheron Constantin. But as impressive as the Odysseus is, if you're open to an alternative, you might want to consider the JLC Polaris Chronograph. Like the Lange, it has a beautiful blue dial, an admirable movement, and original design. It even has a better looking bracelet, and costs about a third as much.

Nevertheless, let's give Langepedia the last word: "All in all, Lange Odysseus is a very-well made, historically important, good looking (even better on the wrist) stainless steel sporty-elegant wristwatch from A. Lange & Söhne."