Review of Lang & Heyne Hektor Sporty-Elegant Steel Watch
A contemporary design with classic German Saxon watchmaking DNAs
I first heard of Lang & Heyne from retired Professor Bill Sanders, who has a prolific watch channel on YouTube called WatchArtSci. Bill admired Lang & Heyne and its founder Marco Lang very much and his enthusiasm was contagious. My own research convinced me to follow this top German brand closely and wait for the right timepiece to come along.
When Lang & Heyne announced their first sporty steel watch in early October 2021, I knew that this one was for me. For a person who enjoys outdoors and travels, I found myself gravitating towards sporty watches in daily wear. I love dress watches too, but they tend to stay more on the winders (to be admired) than on my wrist. The entry-level model (price-wise) with a stunning movement looked like a perfect gateway to this intriguing brand. There was only one catch, the just announced Hektor would be available in only 99 pieces. There was no AD near where I live.
Fortunately, I got a chance to visit New York City later in October. I wasted no time paying a visit to Cellini Jewelers, a top dealer of independent watches. I still remember that it was Oct 22, as the New York Times published an article on independent watchmakers on that date. There were several quotes from Mr. Leon Adams, the owner of Cellini. I mentioned this article when I saw Mr. Adams in the store and he smiled.
I then inquired about the Hektor. To my surprise and great delight, the allocation was not completely gone yet. I knew that I needed to make a quick decision, while checking out the exquisite dress models from Lang & Heyne on the counter displays. No doubt this future Hektor would be fantastic too. I pulled the trigger and placed an order for the last green dialed Hektor in Cellini’s allocation.
The wait started. I checked #langheynehektor on Instagram almost daily for pictures posted by new owners. I messaged some of them to see how they liked the watch (everyone loved it!). Finally, it was my turn to welcome Hektor home. What a stunning beauty! The 6-month wait was quite worth it! Now, after 10 days with the watch, here is my review.
Geography of German watchmaking
There are 16 states in Germany, a country in north-central Europe. In the East of Germany, bordering Poland and Czech Republic, there is the Free State of Saxony, the 10th largest state in the country. The cradle of German watchmaking. The Saxon court clockmakers of the 18th century were from this region and renowned for their unmatched craftsmanship.
The capital city of Saxony is Dresden, the 12th most populous city in Germany. By area, Dresden is the fourth largest in Germany, after Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. Dresden has been a main cultural and intellectual center for a long time. A base for fine mechanical creations and clock/wristwatch making in particular.
About 20 miles to the south of Dresden is Glashütte, the modern day home of German watchmaking. It is a small town of 7000 people, yet many famous watch brands are based here. The list includes A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original, Nomos and Moritz Grossmann, to name just a few. Many watches made by these brands print "Glashütte I/SA" on the dials. Here the symbol “I/SA” means “In Saxony".
Lang & Heyne is located 10 miles to the north-east of Dresden city center. On their watch dials, we may see "Dresden" and "Made in Saxony" proudly displayed. “Born in Saxony” is the new tagline for Lang & Heyne. The message is clear. Lang & Heyne excels and stands out with the classic watchmaking techniques invented and refined in Saxony.
A brief history of Lang & Heyne
Marco Lang was born in 1971 as a fifth-generation watchmaker. He and watchmaker Mirko Heyne founded the manufacture bearing their names in 2001. While Mirko Heyne left the company soon, Marco Lang continued to lead the brand till 2019. In 2005 Marco Lang became a member of the AHCI, the prestigious group of the best independent watchmakers in the world. Lang & Heyne (L&H) was known from the beginning by its focus on high-end, hand-made timepieces in the Saxon traditions.
The company expanded its operations in 2013 with new investment led by Dr. Ulrich Rohde (Munich). In that year, Marco Lang started and built up a watch component and movement company named “Uhren-Werke-Dresden” (UWD). UWD provides parts not just for L&H, but to other watch companies (a common model in the Swiss watch industry, although less common in Germany).
During 18 years at L&H, Marco Lang had developed and constructed 9 different movements and 8 watch models. These models and their variants sold for a price range of 20 to 150 thousand Euros. L&H has become a synonym for fine watchmaking in Dresden and all over the world.
Today, L&H is led by CEO Alexander Gutierrez Diaz, a 20 year veteran at Baume & Mercier in prior career. L&H is part of the Tempus Arte Group, which also includes UWD, Stowa, Leinfelder and Blaken. Mr. Diaz is the CEO for the Tempus Arte Group as well.
The watchmaking at L&H has been led by Mr. Jens Schneider, the Development Director. He was at A. Lange & Söhne previously and was significantly involved in the development of the Zeitwerk. He went on to become the Head of the Construction Department at Moritz Grossmann. Mr. Schneider joined L&H in August, 2019.
There are 32 employees at L&H today, including 8 watchmakers (see a picture at the end of the article). The annual production is around 100-200 watches, according to the company. The number of watches made each year depends on the complexity in terms of the complications of the requested timepieces.
L&H and UWD started to share the same manufacturing building in 2018 (see the picture above with both brands’ names on the building). The close collaborations under the same roof had made it possible to develop a new Hektor quickly.
The Youngest Member of the Family - Hektor
I asked Ms. Dominique Jahn, Marketing Lead at L&H, the year Hektor development work started and the motivations behind this new model. Here is the reply kindly provided by her.
“We started the Hektor project in September 2020 in order to complement our existing product portfolio with its high-end movements and precious metal cases with a fully new collection made in steel with a bracelet. The goal was to launch a sporty, timeless and elegant watch. It was very important to keep the DNA and assets of Lang & Heyne while creating a new, innovative design. Of course, the movement of the Hektor is our own construction, design and fully manufactured in-house. Only in the finish, we have implemented other approaches, which should reflect the technical character and approach of the timepiece. The Hektor was sold out after a few days, almost hours and a great success for the brand.”
The Hektor introduction was certainly a strategic move by L&H to seize on the changing lifestyle and to attract new and younger clients. Recalling workplace attire over the years, there has been an evolution from formal dress code, to “casual Friday'', then to “casual everyday” while working from home in the last 2 years. The less-formal lifestyle has caused a boom in the sporty-elegant watch category. These sporty watches in steel bracelets may be worn 7 days of the week, indoor and outdoor.
The new model name comes from a Prince Hektor in Dresden history, a descendent from the royal line of the Wettin family. This is a naming tradition for all of the models in L&H collection. The inaugural edition was limited to 99 pieces only, 33 each in 3 dial colors, royal blue, anthracite gray and forest green. The timepieces were sold exclusively through a 25-POS dealer network worldwide.
Let us look at the movement next, as Hektor’s development took strong design cues from the movement.
UWD 33.1 - A caliber developed under Marco Lang
As we mentioned earlier, L&H founder Marco Lang started and built up the team at UWD in 2013. The goal was to supply high quality components for sister companies and external brands. The first movement under Lang's supervision was UWD 33.1. 95% of the movement was made in Germany.
UWD 33.1 was first used by Leinfelder Uhren München, a sister company in the Tempus Arte Group. The movement debuted at Baselworld 2014. It went on to power the Sinn 6200 Meisterbund, with the name referring to 3 masters, the Sinn, UWD, and SUG (case maker). UWD33.1 ticks inside the J.N. Shapiro Infinity Series as well, which all sold out recently with no more units to be made.
UWD 33.1 is a beauty to behold, with style consistent with L&H calibers. The gear train, from the center wheel, the 3rd wheel, the 4th wheel and to the escapement wheel, is open and visible. The bridges and cocks are skeletonized to offer unblocked, 3D views inside the movement. The cocks are in a petticoat shape, which is an optimized use of space while allowing the cocks to hold the wheels firmly. The bridges holding the balance wheel and mainspring wheel look like partial petticoats too. I counted at least seven petticoat shapes.
It is a manual wind movement with the 4th wheel at the 6 o'clock position. This layout, similar to L&H Caliber 1 and Caliber V, allows the 4th wheel to drive the seconds hand. Therefore, all watches shipped with UWD 33.1 come with sub-seconds dials.
LUH 33.2 - An exclusive in-house caliber for Hektor
The L&H team decided to select UWD's existing movement as a base for Hektor. it was a smart move from time-to-market and cost standpoints. The new LUH 33.2 caliber will be exclusively used for the L&H Hektor sports models, confirmed by Ms. Jahn.
The LUH 33.2 includes a few changes on top of UWD 33.1. First, Hektor needs a central seconds hand, as with most modern sporty steel watches. This means the addition of an "indirect center seconds" mechanism. We may see that the bridge of center seconds was changed to a cock. This cock positions a bit higher now, possibly making room for the "indirect center seconds" mechanism underneath it. Besides, the regulator for the escapement has been improved as well. As a result, the height of the caliber has increased slightly from 4.3mm to 4.4mm. Otherwise, LUH 33.2 still has the same beautiful movement layout with the petticoat shaped cocks. The open movement design makes it easier for future services too, years down the road.
The frequency of the Caliber 33.2 is 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour, or 3Hz. This rate is greater than all other L&H calibers which beat at 2.5Hz. Marco Lang explained here that a lower rate leads to a bigger balance wheel, which is nicer to look at. Indeed, the balance wheel of LUH 33.2 is as big as the ratchet wheel. The 3Hz rate makes a much crisper tick-tock sound to the human ears, compared to the hurried beats at 4Hz.
The case, crown and bracelet
The sturdy construction of the case and bracelet in stainless steel leaves no doubt that Hektor is a sports watch. It is a piece of solid steel at the flank of the case, as we may see in the picture below. On the other flank, the crown guard surrounds the crown tightly. Notice that this crown is just like the crowns in L&H dress watches. The diameter of the case is 40mm and the height is 11mm, which are perfect for most folks.
The 5-link bracelet is beautifully designed and built by the best specialist in Switzerland. It feels hefty when held in the hand. Some surfaces are brushed while others are polished to reflect the light differently. We see in the middle three links the shape of petticoat, a recurring design theme in many parts of the watch including the movement. The 3-lug design, a signature of L&H, connects the case with a bracelet at both ends. The bracelet is closed by a butterfly folding clasp that is very smooth to operate. The integrated case and bracelet is a critical part of the sports watch design. L&H certainly has gotten it right the first time.
The dial
A unique design of this 3-hand dial is the petticoat-shaped opening. This visible hour cock offers a peek into the gear drive. It is a strong echoing of the various petticoat shaped cocks on the back. The tips of the hour hand and minute hand are in the shape of the ubiquitous petticoat too. So is the end of the seconds hand! The petticoat is a design theme recurring in the dial, bracelet and the movement.
The dial design presents three co-centric rings for reading the time. The most inner one consists of the 12 hour markers, matching to the hour hand. The middle ring shows 60 minute markers, matching to the minute hand. The outermost ring shows 180 divisions of a full minute, matching with the seconds hand. It effectively provides the reading of time in 1/3 of a second. Note that the movement of this watch beats at 3Hz (6 ticks per seconds). It makes sense to divide one second into three.
Another design element on the dial is related to the letter “H” from the watch name Hektor. We see it in the pattern in the dial center and the 12 hour markers. In addition to the green dial, there are grey dial and blue dial in this edition of the Hektor release. We see the “Made in Saxony” sign at the 6 o’clock position, a proud demonstration of the Saxon watchmaking heritage.
Overall impressions after first ten days
First, some more pictures of this stunning sporty-elegant watch from Dresden!
The Hektor is very well designed and wears very comfortably. The winding operation is very smooth. Although the power reserve is 48 hours, L&H advises in the owner’s manual to wind it once a day at the same time. So I have been winding it in the early morning every day. It takes about 20 winds each time. The 40mm case size and 11mm case thickness are perfect for most wearers. The weight is good too, hefty for a sporty watch, but not too heavy.
The green color is in a very nice shade, a bit darker, not too bright or shiny. The petticoat shape is a consistent design element repeating in the dial, the hands, the bracelet and the movement. Although it is a sporty watch with an integrated steel bracelet, there are still a lot of similarities with the dress watches in the L&H collection. For example, the crown, the crown guard, the 3-lug design, the screws on the lugs, and the open, clean movement architecture. All these are signatures of L&H design and craftsmanship.
The movement is a beauty with the complete gear train open and visible. All the cocks and bridges are skeletonized. We may see clearly the moving gears, including the fourth wheel and the escarpment wheel. The petticoat shaped cocks are both functional and beautiful. There are so many curves and angles and all of them are nicely beveled. The finishing work is quite impressive, although probably not at the same level of L&H’s other high finishing calibers. But at this price level of $17K, it is a fantastic value. The movement keeps very accurate time. Measured over 10 days, the timing error is +2.1 seconds per day for my watch.
Is there anything that I’d like to add or change, if there is a wish list? For the opening on the dial, it would be awesome to see some moving gears (the hour wheel barely moves now). It would also be super nice to have some kind of length extension in the bracelet. These are what I can think of now. Overall, Hektor is an extremely satisfying sporty watch with such a beautiful look!
The plan for future Hektor Models
“The Hektor story will continue and we are working in parallel on Hektor 2022/2023, which will be unique and desirable as well,” a wonderful confirmation from the company.
Mr. Diaz, L&H CEO, offered some further hints in this interview (in Germany). He promised that the new models would not be just changing to some new dial colors. “We have on the technical side a lot of opportunities because we do not rely on a standardized movement. It will be a newly constructed watch, it may have a new function, it may have a date, it may have a power reserve or it may have something else but we don’t know it yet. We can say for sure that it will be different from the version that we have today.” Great news for watch lovers and collectors who missed the first Hektor release.
Is Hektor the right watch for you?
Mr. Leon Adams from the Cellini Jewelers explained that the clients who buy L&H often are very interested in movement finishes. Lange and Sohne clients, Urban Jurgenson, and other top quality Swiss brands. He further pointed out that the majority of clients who bought Hektor were new to the brand.
With high finish movements, the L&H timepieces are quite rare and exclusive. The decoration work with hand tools takes considerably more time and effort. The prices are high and often out of reach for many watch enthusiasts and collectors. For example, the new Georg with the exquisite Caliber VIII costs $45,500 and there is a wait list. The Moritz with Caliber III costs $56,000.
Hektor, priced at $17K, is L&H’s de facto entry level model. It is true that the Caliber 33.2 is produced with less hand finishing compared to other L&H calibers. However, the bevel surfaces look quite nice and smooth to me under the loupe. It is one of the most beautiful openworked movements in the sporty-elegant category today. The main competitor to Hektor in the same price range I may think of is the Czapek & Cie Antarctique sports model. The openworked movement with a micro-rotor is a stunner too. The Terre Adélie line was launched in mid-2020 at $19K (in a 99-limited edition too) while the current Passage de Drake line is priced at $22K. The order book has just been closed for one year starting this week, however, due to high demand.
Hektor is no doubt a compelling and sincere offering from Saxony if you are interested in a sports watch that may accompany you everyday. It provides watch enthusiasts like myself the opportunity to own a timepiece from a prestigious brand. Mr. Adams’s comment confirmed the wider appeal created by Hektor.
Conclusion
I just did a search on Chrono24.com with “Rolex Daytona”, one of the most hard-to-get pieces, there were 7,720 results. I searched again with “Lang & Heyne’, there was zero return. A few days ago, there was one watch. This tells us just how exclusive and rare the L&H watches are. The existing collectors are holding on to them!
So, if you are someone who values craftsmanship, prefers off the beaten path, and enjoys a sporty-elegant watch, Hektor might be just the perfect choice for you. People may not know the brand on your wrist, but they will see the quality and appreciate the wearer’s taste. You will certainly receive a strong recommendation and endorsement from Professor Bill Sanders and me!
It has been a fun project to research and learn a great deal about this wonderful German brand. I will conclude this review with two more wrist shots, a close-up of the stunning movement and a picture of the watchmakers at Lang & Heyne in Dresden, Saxony, Germany who have produced these wonderful timepieces!
A quick update on July 29, 2022:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its retail partner Shellman in Japan, Lang & Heyne released a special 5-piece limited edition Hektor in Salmon dial. This is a new color for Hektor and only the dial is different from the first edition. Mr. Jens Schneider, the Development Director, is visiting the Shellman Boutique to offer a talk on Aug 27, 2022. What a spectacular and very rare timepiece!
References
Hektor launch video by Lang & Heyne
CEO and Director of Development interviewed about Hektor (in Germany)
Review by Uhrenkosmos (English translation) by Mr. Gisbert Brunner
Lang & Heyne: Defining Exceptional Horology, by Prof. Bill Sanders
Marco Lang interviewed by Prof Bill Sanders on the reasons for choosing a low frequency for the movements
Here are the timing measurements done by Weishi No. 1900 on July 3rd, 2022. Dial up: +4, dial down +4, crown up: +4, crown down: +1, 12 up: +5, 12 down: -1. The average is +2.8 seconds per day.