A. Lange & Söhne Cabaret "Aventurine" 827.028

Cabaret "Aventurine" — 827.028

Cabaret has always been the collection where A. Lange & Söhne lets itself loosen up a little. When it launched in Basel in 1997, the brand's own press notes described it as “fresh, a little impudent, and very imaginative”, not exactly the descriptions we are accustomed from the Saxon. It was Lange's first genuinely rectangular case, and my guess is that, as its popularity waned, A. Lange & Söhne experimented adventurous ideas on the canvas to make more noise of it.

This is a white gold Cabaret from 2009, reference 827.028, and like the Soirée pieces from the same period, it isn't one of the references you'll find catalogued almost anywhere. Google it, and likely it is going to return zero results. Only after a very deliberate a long search one can unearth an example or two over almost two decades. To my knowledge, this is A. Lange & Söhne's first-use of the copper-flux dial.

Aventurine takes its name from the Italian, a ventura, “by chance”, after Murano glassmakers are said to have discovered it by accident in the 17th century, when copper filings fell into molten glass and set into thousands of tiny reflective flecks. Under any kind of light, this dial genuinely reads like a small patch of night sky pressed flat under crystal — deep, textured, and never quite the same twice depending on the angle. It's one of the more unusual dial choices I've seen Lange commit to, and it works far better than it has any right to on a case this formal. Capturing it was a rather challenge, but once again, I am very much glad how this Cabaret turned out on my trusted chopping-board.

Behind it is the caliber L931.4, the same architecture that runs through every Cabaret: blued screws, gold chatons, a mirror-polished escape-wheel cap, and a hand-engraved balance cock, descended from the L931 family that traces back to the Arkade's original L911.

This Cabaret 827.028 in white gold with copper-flux dial is limited to 10 pieces, comes with original box and papers and in great condition. Sold at The Selection, at Langepedia.com in August 2026.