Junghans Expand Max Bill Bauhaus Collection with Chronoscope, Regulator and Automatic Models

Last year Junghans introduced the world to the Max Bill Automatic Bauhaus, a watch that delved deep into the traditions of the famous school of German design. Where once there was one, now there are three, as Junghans have expanded that original watch into a sub-collection of its own with the addition of three new Max Bill Bauhaus watches. The Max Bill Chronoscope Bauhaus, Max Bill Regulator Bauhaus and Max Bill Automatic Bauhaus (white).

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Bauhaus, the short version of the story is that it’s a design movement popularised by an early 20th century school of art and design in Germany of the same name. It’s widely considered to be the predecessor to modern minimalism and focuses heavily on colour and geometry as well as being extremely concerned with function and form – specifically that form follows function, meaning objects should be useful and usefulness leads to good form. All of which translates exceptionally well to wristwatches. While we’re at it, Max Bill, the other influence on the Junghans, was a prominent artist and designer in the Swiss modernist movement.

The three Junghans watches all have red hands and dates, which is a reference to the red door of the Bauhaus school itself, as well as one of the movement’s signature colours. The focus on function is seen in the thin, minimalist lines of the hour scales and restrained typography of the various complications. Regarding those complications, the Max Bill Chronoscope Bauhaus has a vertical bicompax chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counters. The Max Bill Regulator Bauhaus simply presents the hours, minutes and seconds on separate subdials and the Max Bill Automatic Bauhaus is a traditional time and date display.

All three watches feature clean white dials as opposed to the original model, which was black. The white makes them feel much more open and lighter, a property seen in a lot of modern minimalist design to create a sense of space. Personally, I quite like the brooding quality of the black and red original, but I can see how this new trio would appeal, particularly the Regulator edition which leans even further into the pure functionality of a watch.

In terms of specification, the Chronoscope is 40mm and contains the J880.2 automatic movement with 48-hour power reserve. The Regulator is 40mm with the J800.5 automatic movement featuring 38-hour power reserve. And lastly the Automatic is 38mm housing the J800.5 automatic movement again but this time with a power reserve of 42-hours because the display is less power intensive. They’re all slightly different but that’s to be expected because they all do slightly different things.

As for price, the Junghans Max Bill Automatic is €1,455, the Regulator is €2,375 and the Chronoscope Bauhaus is €2,395 (approx. £1,250/£2,040/£2,060). This then is a sub-collection designed for true fans of Bauhaus at a price that’s pretty reasonable. And when I say true fans I do mean true fans considering that an engraving of the school can be found on the watches’ casebacks.

More details at Junghans.

​Oracle Time 

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