<span>With a Sporty $28,800 Watch, A. Lange &amp; Söhne Dives Into a New Strategy</span>

There’s a new luxury sports watch in town. A. Lange & Söhne is giving its fellow high-end European watch brands a run for their money with its new Odysseus, a heavy-duty steel timepiece that can take a beating. And at $28,800, it’s priced lower than some of the pieces the brand is best known for. Fellow luxury watch heavyweights including Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet have full collections of what they call “sports” watches, and the Saxony-based Lange—which specializes in high complications—is hoping to get in on the business. On the heels of the Piaget Polo S, Chopard Alpine Eagle, and Girard Perregaux Laureato lines being launched in recent years, the Odysseus is the latest evidence that sports watches are now firmly a trend in the luxury watch industry.

“In today’s market, collectors and clients want a watch that they can wear to work and after hours,” says Rebecca Ross, watch specialist at Christie’s New York. “Stainless steel is preferable because it’s much more durable than gold,” she says. “In the ’40s and ’50s, steel was rarely used [in watches], so finding a vintage steel watch is highly desirable for collectors. That interest in vintage steel has contributed to the popularity of the new pieces.”