Q&AJunghans’ CEO Speaks About The Art Of Mechanical Time

How do this year’s novelties take the brand’s story forward?

If you look at our history, you’ll see that we have always had very well-designed timepieces in-house. Since the 20s, we’ve had our own design department. The Meister was done in the 1930s. In the 50s, we started a collaboration with Max Bill. In the 90s, we created our first Mega watches. We have always had great design. Today, when we’re celebrating 100 years of Bauhaus, you can look backwards at these great design connections. So it gives the brand an attitude and an impression that is fresh. And the reaction to our authentic designs has been very, very good.

According to you, what are the true values of watchmaking?

Watchmaking is like creating dreams of true value out of nearly nothing. The biggest value is that you can carry stories, craftsmanship and art—all in a very small case.

Like the Junghans Max Max Bill 100 Years Bauhaus Automatic, the 'Chronoscope'—or chronograph version—also has the red-backed date window as a nod to the Bauhaus school

₹2,10,000

Check Our Selling Price

The caseback features a representation of the Bauhaus school building in Deassau, Germany, with its windows revealing the automatic movement beating within

₹2,10,000

Check Our Selling Price

This watch is set in a grey PVD-treated steel case, 40mm in diameter, while the dial features the 30-minute and 12-hour chronoscope counters at 12 and six o'clock

₹2,10,000

Check Our Selling Price

01

What advice would you give to a first-time watch buyer?

A watch should perfectly complement your personality and make you feel good. With a watch, you express your attitude. You look at the watch all the time, and every glance at your watch should satisfy you.

What are the big trends these days in watchmaking?

Still strong today are revivals of great, classical designs. During the last two decades, we’ve seen many, many things—all the materials, all the colours. But now, the classical style is back. That works to our advantage. We want to have a clear, elegant watch that you can use for a longer time. For us, it’s not a seasonal thing. I’m very happy with this shift away from the bigger and more complicated watches. This also offers us the opportunity of bringing the spirit of watches back. A watch with a beautiful dial and hands should not be replaced by a computer. It’s not a problem to have a 4K display and to click, and to do something unreal. However, personally speaking, a mechanical watch feels like it is alive, with all the components doing their part.

“Aside from Max Bill and Walter Gopius (the founder and director of Bauhaus), there were others who played an instrumental role in defining Bauhaus' principles,” Matthias Stotz says. “Johannes Itten was one of them. He developed the Bauhaus colour codes based on primary and secondary colours and their combinations. There were 12 colours on the wheel, and we decided to put them on the dial of the Form A Bauhaus special edition.”

What do you think is the future of fine mechanical watchmaking?

There is always a possibility to do something smaller and more precise, but in mechanical movements. A radio-controlled watch is more precise than anything mechanical out there, but to catch up and achieve that level of accuracy through mechanics and the idea of making it real is always exciting.

“A radio-controlled watch is more precise than anything mechanical out there,” declares Stotz, referring to the Junghans Mega watches, which can be synced to satellite time

₹99,000

Check Our Selling Price

Mega watches can be synced to any time zone. The satellites for various time zones are depicted on the caseback. They can even take into account the 30-minute time difference in India

₹99,000

Check Our Selling Price

On the façade though, these watches look like perfectly elegant, classical analogue timepieces

₹99,000

Check Our Selling Price

01

How difficult is it to keep innovating while staying true to the brand’s DNA?

Everything has to be done in an evolutionary way. Comparing collections with past editions should make that clear. When we talk about the brand and the collections, it should be like a concert. All instruments should be played to sound better together.