Hands-On: A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Honeygold Watch
Photos by Ed Rhee
At Watches & Wonders 2025, A. Lange & Söhne announced the latest addition to its sports watch collection, dressed in the brand’s proprietary gold alloy. The limited edition A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Honeygold watch is as sweet as its name suggests — but don’t mistake it for soft. We went hands-on with the luxe sports watch, and in the metal, this newest edition is bold, weighty, and sharply executed, presenting an entirely different character than any of its white metal predecessors.
The Odysseus Honeygold pairs a rich, almost edible chocolate brown dial with Lange’s proprietary 18k Honeygold alloy, a material used sparingly since it debuted in 2010 and never (until now) to make a bracelet. And yet here it is, in full five-row solid gold form, flawlessly integrated and noticeably heavy on the wrist. It’s the kind of heft that feels appropriate for a solid gold Lange — unapologetically luxurious but extremely wearable thanks to excellent ergonomics and a safety deployment buckle with a mechanism that lets you micro-adjust the length up to 7mm via the push of a button (without having to open the buckle). This is the same adjustable clasp as the IWC Pilot watches, which, if you’ve handled those, you know offer some of the best on-the-fly adjustments in the market. Of course, if needed, the bracelet can also be sized by adding or removing individual links.
While the bracelet looks integrated, the Odysseus case still uses traditional lugs and spring bars. That said, unlike the first batch of steel Odysseus watches, which featured visible slots to accommodate a spring bar tool, Lange has opted to close them up, so this Honeygold bracelet is here to stay — no swapping this golden baby out. And honestly, why would you want to?
The 40.5mm case (11.1mm thick) still features the signature notched design and day/date pushers discreetly flanking the crown, but the visual tone is entirely different in this metal and colorway. Where the steel and titanium versions felt more casual and contemporary, the Honeygold variant is more mature — stern, even — in the way German design often is. This is the Odysseus dressed like it’s got somewhere important to be, while still clinging to its sporty spirit. Not only does it offer tone-on-tone perfection, but the muted luster of Honeygold is stunning. There are polished bevels, but they’re subtle — accents for the wearer to enjoy, not onlookers. Again, that Honeygold case construction adds considerable heft to the wrist, but as you can see from the photos on Ed’s 6.6″ wrist, it’s a perfectly manageable size.
That brown dial, by the way, is beautifully executed. Lange dials are always crisp, but this one plays especially well with the warm case. The embossed groove texture between the hour markers and inside the running seconds subdial contrasts nicely with the other smooth surfaces of the dial, all playing background to the Honeygold baton indices and lancet-style hands. It’s a familiar layout to Odysseus fans, anchored by the oversized day and date displays at 9 and 3 o’clock, respectively. Framed by sharp rectangular apertures and printed in crisp white, they’re instantly legible and give the watch its distinct Lange look.
The back of the watch gives us a view of the L155.1 Datomatic movement through the sapphire caseback. This is very much a Lange caliber, with a skeletonized rotor with a black-rhodium finish and a 950 platinum centrifugal mass, untreated German silver plates and bridges, blued screws, and a screwed gold chaton above the escape wheel. However, unlike most other Lange calibers, this one uses a balance bridge secured at two points for the oscillation system instead of the usual balance cock. It’s hand-engraved with a wave motif — a pattern exclusive to the Odysseus and a quiet nod to the watch’s 120m water resistance. The L155.1 Datomatic beats at 4Hz and provides 50 hours of power reserve.
Gold bracelet Lange watches are rare — and this one makes a convincing case for more of them. In Honeygold and rich brown, the Odysseus becomes something else entirely: still sporty, but decidedly more serious. It’s a watch that feels buttoned-up but relaxed, like someone wearing a suit with their feet in the sand. Pricing is listed as upon request, but word on the street is that it’s been set at around $110,000 USD. And if that price wasn’t already a buzzkill, only 100 pieces of this sweet, sweet honey (gold) will be produced — so you’ll have to fight the swarm to get your hands on one. For more information about the Odysseus Honeygold (ref. 363.150), please visit the A. Lange & Söhne website.
