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Entrepreneur Jim Breyer spotted wearing A. Lange & Söhne

Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital — consistently ranked among the top 100 venture capital firms globally — was recently spotted wearing a platinum A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Time Zone, reference 116.025. For a principal who divides his time between Sand Hill Road, New York, and boardrooms across Asia and Europe, the choice is anything but decorative.

The Lange 1 Time Zone ref. 116.025 houses the manufacture calibre L031.1, a manually wound movement beating at 21,600 vph with a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement features Lange's signature three-quarter plate in German silver, hand-engraved balance cock, and twin mainspring barrels. The outsize date — a Lange hallmark since 1994 — sits at 1 o'clock, while the subsidiary seconds dial occupies its classical position below 9 o'clock. The platinum case measures 41.9 mm and pairs with a grey argenté dial, offering the restrained visual hierarchy that distinguishes Lange from flashier complications.

What sets the Time Zone apart mechanically is its intuitive city-ring system. A pusher at 8 o'clock advances the reference city ring eastward one zone at a time, simultaneously jumping the home-time hour hand forward by one hour. The home-time dial reads at center; the travel-time subsidiary sits at 5 o'clock. The day/night indicator ensures instant AM/PM legibility in both zones — a genuinely practical solution executed with German precision.

The ref. 116.025 has been discontinued, which elevates its collector standing considerably. Platinum Lange references are produced in limited numbers to begin with, and the Time Zone complication — bridging classical Lange aesthetics with genuine travel utility — attracts a specific buyer: understated, analytical, and unwilling to compromise on finishing quality. Among the Lange 1 family variants, the platinum Time Zone consistently commands premium attention at auction.

On the grey market, examples of the ref. 116.025 in platinum trade meaningfully above their original retail price, reflecting both the discontinuation status and the enduring demand for platinum Lange complications. For Breyer, whose investment track record includes early stakes in Facebook and Marvel, wearing a discontinued Lange in platinum reads less as flex and more as considered curation — the horological equivalent of a high-conviction position held for the long term.