By James Phang
Junghans is one of the few German-based watchmakers with a longstanding history of more than 150 years, best known for its affordable and clean designs which draws inspiration from two styles – vintage aviation or Bauhaus.
For Baselworld 2016, Junghans has introduced a new collection based on the designs of classic cars from the 1930s – the Junghans Meister Driver Handaufzug.
This creation was made possible by the two current owners of the Junghans brand (Hans-Jochem Steim and Hannes Steim) as well as Arthur Junghans, son of the company founder Erhard Jungians. Their love and enthusiasm for antique cars have led them to amass a large collection of vintage vehicles as well as car clocks and speed measuring devices in the early to mid-90s – and it only seemed natural that they brought their two greatest passions together – cars and watches.
Maybach DS 8 Zeppelin
The new Junghans Meister Driver Handaufzug draws inspiration from the Maybach DS 8 Zeppelin, a limited production model built in 1932, with only 25 pieces existing worldwide. One of the key features of the Maybach DS 8 Zeppelin luxury car is its attractive combination of colours – cream, light grey and anthracite – which Junghans leveraged to great effect for its new Meister Driver.
There are two editions available. The first one is a classic design with a black dial, cream indexes and sub-dial and a grey strap. It features large hour numerals and a small minute track on the periphery of the dial. In contrast, the 2nd model has a more vintage feel, featuring a cream dial, white numerals and a matching cream strap. The size of numerals and tracks are also reversed – the cream edition uses large minute numerals and a smaller rail-road track for the hours. As part of the brand’s signature vintage style, the dial is intentionally slightly domed. These numerals are also reminiscent of antique dashboard speedometers. Both feature a polished lacquer dial with a “sunburst” effect finish, although the luminous paint applied on numerals and hands is different for the two models – cream for the black dial edition and white for the cream / grey version.
Consistent with older models which tend to be smaller in designs, the Junghans Meister Driver Handaufzug sports a 37.7mm stainless case with a domed Plexi-glass and has a slim profile of only 7.3mm making it more comfortable for wearers to slip it under their formal wear. This was made possible by the movement used for this particular model, a calibre based on the well-known ETA 7001 Peseux, a thin manually-wound movement with small second at the 6 o’clock position. It is finished with Geneva Stripes and blue screws and can be appreciated through the sapphire caseback.
The Junghans Meister Driver Handaufzug would serve as a great daily beater – given its great affordability as a dress watch, as well as original designs to stand out from the crowd. Priced at 1,150 Euros to 1,200 Euros, it is one watch not to be missed. For more info, please visit junghans.de
JAMES PHANG – CONTRIBUTING WRITER
James Phang is a young watch enthusiast from Singapore and is a self-professed fanatic of independent brands for their unique avant-garde designs. Some of his favorite brands include MB&F, Urwerk, Romain Jerome, Sarpaneva, Peter Speake-Marin and Azimuth. His love for art extends out to all things handmade, and he has made it his personal mission to find the best handmade straps and buckles worldwide for his humble collection. Read his articles here
