Junghans Watches

History of Junghans

Junghans was founded in 1861. Established by Erhard Junghans in partnership with Jakob Zeller-Tobler, this firm initially produced clock parts and components. In 1866, the company launched Junghans brand clocks.

In 1875, Arthur Junghans, the son of brand’s founder, took over the reins. In the early 1900s, the company achieved an annual production of more than 3 million timepieces. In 1903, it became the largest watch manufacturer in the world. In 1918, the ionic terrace building (Terrassenbau) was completed. In 1927, the first Junghans hand-wound wristwatch was launched. In 1936, the company introduced the first watch powered by its own high-precision calibre J80.

In 1956, Junghans became the third largest manufacturer of chronometers. In 1957, the manufacturer launched J83, the first automatic chronometer calibre. In the early 1960s, it launched minimalistic watches designed by Bauhaus scholar Max Bill.

In 1971, Junghans unveiled the Astro-Quartz, the first German quartz watch. In 1990, the brand’s first radio-controlled wristwatch was introduced. In 2008, the company launched Erhard Junghans series of mechanical watches as a lasting tribute to its founder. 

Junghans Watch Collections

(1) Junghans 1972

This collection is comprised of sports chronographs that evoke the brand’s milestone achievement as the official timekeeper for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Presently, this series offers chronoscope models equipped with solar-quartz movements. Water resistance to 100 meters, these stainless steel watches feature sapphire crystal glass, unidirectional turning bezel and screwed case back. This 43.3mm watch displays date, small-seconds, 24-hour and chronoscope with 1/5 stop seconds and 60-minute counter.

(2) Junghans FORM

Junghans Form is an extensive watch collection comprised of various model families. Among them, Form A represents a family of automatic watches featuring three centre hands and date. These timepieces are available in stainless steel and black PVD versions. They typically feature refined round case design, minimalistic dial and flat sapphire crystal glass. From this family, the brand also offers Form A Titan models with titanium case. All renditions in this series are equipped with the J800.2 self-winding movement.

Form C is a minimalistic chronograph model driven by a premium quartz movement. Topped with a sapphire crystal, this 40mm diameter stainless steel timepiece displays chronograph with both 30 minute and 12 hour registers in a single sub-dial, small seconds dial and date.

Form Damen is a range of ladies quartz wristwatches that display hour, minute, seconds and date. These creations come with elegantly styled stainless steel cases. The case diameter is 34.1mm and it is fitted with a sapphire crystal glass on the top. This series is dedicated to modern women with a passion for simple yet graceful timekeepers.

Form Quarz is a men’s watch featuring a date window at 3 o’ clock and centrally positioned hour, minute and seconds hands. Equipped with quartz movement, this timepiece features a stainless steel case measuring 39.3mm.

(3) Junghans Meister

Meister is the most extensive collection from the iconic brand. Notable men watch models from this collection are Agenda, Automatic, Chronometer, Chronoscope, Classic, Driver Series, Fein, Gangreserve, Handaufzug, Kalender, Mega, Pilot, S Chronoscope, Signatur, Telemet and Worldtimer. For women, Junghans Meister series offers Damen and Damen Automatic models. Meister watches are available in stainless steel and Gold PVD versions.

This series offers automatic, hand-wound, quartz and radio-controlled watches. Except Meister Damen and Mega models, all timepieces from this collection feature mechanical movements including automatic and manual-wound. The designation Handaufzug indicates hand-wound caliber. Mega is equipped with a connected radio-controlled movement while Damen is a ladies’ quartz watch.

In the automatic category, the collection offers a number of models with three-hands and date dial configuration. Examples are Meister Automatic, Classic, Damen Automatic and Fein. These timepieces respectively are available in 38mm, 38.4mm, 33.1mm and 39.5mm case sizes. Meister Chronometer is a variant of Classic model with COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chonomètres) certification.

Agenda is a stainless steel wristwatch with a symmetrically arranged dial with date, day, week and power reserve indications. This 40.4mm model is equipped with a self-winding movement.

Meister Chronoscope represents a series of self-winding chronographs. In addition to basic time display, these watches incorporate a stopwatch, day and date functions. This 40.7mm watch houses calibre J880.1.

The Meister Driver series is inspired by classic motor racing icons. It is comprised of Chronoscope Automatic 40.8mm and Handaufzug 37.7mm models. These watches carry the vintage charm of historic sports cars. Chronoscope features a bi-compax dial design with chronograph while the Handaufzug watch highlights a small-seconds display.

Meister Kalender is an elegant wristwatch with triple calendar and moonphase indications. This 40.4mm automatic model displays both the date and moon phase within a single sub dial. For the day and month, it features two windows on the dial. The watch comes with German or English week day and month display.

Meister Pilot is a self-winding aviator watch with chronoscope function. Designed precisely after a legendary pilot chronograph made for the German Armed Forces in the 1950s, this timepiece boasts a large 43.3mm case mounted with a distinctive shaped turning bezel.

Meister S Chronoscope is a resolutely sporty watch equipped with a precise automatic movement. Dressed in a massive 45mm diameter case, this robust timepiece offers chronograph functions along with the date and day. It is available with German and English options for displaying the day.

As its name indicates, Meister Handaufzug is a hand-wound wristwatch. It has a 37.7mm case. Driven by the manual-winding mechanical calibre J815.1, this time-only model highlights a small-seconds indicator at 6H.

Meister Telemeter is an automatic chronograph watch with a 40.8mm case. Equipped with self-winding movement calibre J880.3, it combines chronoscope function with tachymeter and telemeter. The Worldtimer model displays 24 time zones. This automatic watch features a 40.4mm case and the self-winding movement J820.5.

(4) Junghans Max Bill

Junghans Max Bill is a collection of Bauhaus inspired minimalistic wristwatches. Proudly displaying the famous “Form follows function” design concept, these classic wristwatches are available in hand-wound, self-winding, quartz and radio-controlled versions. This distinct series offers time-only, time with date and chronograph models.

The notable wristwatches from the acclaimed Max Bill series are Automatic, Chronoscope, Damen, Handaufzug, Kleine Automatic, Mega, Mega Solar and Quarz. The Max Bill Automatic watch measures 38mm. Both Mega Solar and Quarz watches feature 38mm diameter case. The Kleine Automatic and Handaufzug models feature a 34mm case inspired by the first Max Bill timepieces from 1961. The Chronoscope model is 40mm and houses a self-winding movement. Designed for ladies, Damen variant measures 32.7mm.

Most timepieces from this collection are made of stainless steel with or without PVD coating. A notable exception is Max Bill Mega Solar, which features a 38mm diameter titanium case. 

(5) Junghans Mega/Mega Solar

Apart from quartz, hand-wound and self-winding watches, Junghans offers an impressive selection of Radio Control & Solar timepieces for men and women. The Mega series watches incorporate connected radio-controlled movements where as the Mega Solar models feature multi-frequency radio-controlled solar calibers.

These high-precision timepieces are available in various case sizes and materials. The brand offers Radio Control & Solar watches from its Force, Form, Max Bill, Meister, Milano and Spektrum collections. Junghans Mega/Mega Solar wristwatches are available in stainless steel, ceramic, titanium and PVD coated versions. 

Summary

World-renowned for superb quality and outstanding performance, Junghans timepieces are meticulously crafted by expert hands in the historical Black Forest region of Germany.

The distinguished company makes use of exceptional materials like stainless steel, ceramic, titanium and 18-carat gold for manufacturing case and metal bracelets of its watches. The brand usually offers PVD coated variants in most of the collections. In few timepieces, DLC coating is used. Depending upon the model, Junghans uses hardened plexiglass, mineral glass or sapphire crystal.

A major highlight of every Junghans watch is the symmetrically designed dial with easy-to-read layout and details. The commonly used dial-shades are black, blue, anthracite, grey, silver and white. The brand also offers timepieces with dial colors like green, sand, soft gray and taupe.

Most of the watches have 30m or 50m of water resistance. The models like 1972 Chronoscope Solar, Form A Titan, Meister Pilot, Spektrum Damen and Spektrum Mega Solar are water-resistant up to 100 meters. The Meister S Chronoscope is water-proof up to the depth of 200m.

Junghans offers matching metal bracelets with most of its timepieces. Depending upon the model, the bracelet features stainless steel, PVD, ceramic or titanium parts. The brand also endows its wristwatches with leather, synthetic rubber or textile straps.