When you think of Junghans watches, you probably think of the Max Bill. The iconic Bauhaus-inspired dial design, penned by the eponymous Swiss designer, has been around since the 1950s, mostly unchanged because it’s pretty tricky to perfect. The Max Bill today remains one of our favorite minimalist watches.
But the German watchmaker has done more for the timekeeping industry than introduce an endearing design. Today, many quartz-regulated timepieces — primarily from brands like Citizen and Seiko — will feature a radio or atomic timekeeping element that scans for atomic time codes and automatically adjusts, keeping perfect time. This is a technology that we have Junghans to thank for, as it debuted the world’s first radio-controlled table clock in the late ’80s, then the first radio-controlled wristwatch, called the Junghans MEGA 1, in 1990.
Now, Junghans is putting that technology in its venerable Bauhaus design. The new Max Bill MEGA features Junghans’s J101.65 movement, packed into a case that’s 38mm across and 9mm thick. The movement picks up radio signals from three different continents and checks the seconds hand 1,440 times a day to make sure the time displayed on the watch is in-sync with the actual time. The watch also features a perpetual calendar, accurate to the year 2,400, that automatically and accurately changes the date between months.
The watch comes either with a white dial or a black one, with a few different strap options available. We don’t know much else about when the watch will be available for purchase or specific pricing, though First Class Watches has quoted a £790 starting price, which is approximately $1,045.
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