I was looking at items in the upcoming Jones and Horan auction and saw several A. Lange watches and the descriptions included an apparent grading system called Herkner. The watches were given "grades" of 1a, 2b, etc. My Google search only showed pages in German. Would someone please explain what these mean? Thank you.

Hi Mary Ann

German? that's my part !

To all if you ever find a page of horological interest in the WWW written in German post it and I will try to translate.

Klaus Herkner is the specialist on Glashütte watches. He wrote some 'bibles' about those - only in German, very rare and very expensive. To classify the watches he used a grading system ranging from 1a to 3c. (this grades are for the movements and do not refer the actual state of conservation. so a 1a watch may be in very poor condition.
Thats what I remember of his system:

The numbers are:

1 : ALS watches (A.Lange or A.Lange & Söhne)

2 : DUF watches (Deutsche Uhrenfabrikation Glashütte)

3 : OLIW watches (Original Lange International Watch ; signed 'Deutsche Uhrenfabrikation Glashütte i. Sa.,Lange Uhr)

The letters:

a : the very best quality, diamond cap stones

b : very good, sapphire cap stones

c : good, lesser count of jewels

Mary Ann if you have a special page to translate post the link. And thank you for remembering the H & L auction - very nice watches there - this will keep me busy for a while.

Regards,
Gerald

Thanks, Gerald! I knew you would have the answer.

The pages I saw in German were quite long and, although Google will translate, my Norton security said these sites were questionable. So I was reluctant to even open them for viewing.

I will most definitely remember your kind offer should I come across any more pages that I know for certain pertain to what I am looking for.

And, yes, the upcoming Jones & Horan auction has some very, very nice watches, both Continental and American!