# Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope



## Lars

The Bauhaus scholar Max Bill made some watch designs for Junghans back in the 60’s.

All of them were reissued during the last years. Besides some wall clocks there were 3 wristwatches as well. All of them have a nice and reduced 3-hand layout – available either in handwinding or automatic version.


I often thought about buying one of them but I never pulled the trigger finally. One of the reasons was that these were relatively small (36mm for the manual and 38mm for the automatic).

But some weeks ago I saw pictures of the new chrono version – called Max Bill Chronoscope.

From the very first moment I was haunted by that thing. It’s one of the most beautiful dress chronos I have ever seen. Therefore I was basically forced to buy it …

It has the same reduced and minimalistic design as the 3-hand version – combined with a 2-register 12/6 chrono layout.

A very eye pleasing detail is the shape of the pushers. These remind me somewhat of old stop watches.

The Chronoscope has a diameter of 40mm (height 14mm). But due to the very thin bezel it appears in fact even bigger.

The case is made of mirror polished stainless steel. The dial is matte white. The indices are matte black. The hands are silver but nevertheless they are proving a surprisingly good contrast on the white dial.

There is another version of this watch with a black dial, silver indices and silver hands as well. The contrast is of course better on that black one. Unfortunately the date wheel is black on white as well instead of vice versa. So the bright white date window really hurts the eye on that otherwise very decent watch. That killed the black one for me.

The crystal is acrylic and extremely domed.

Inside ticks a calibre called J880.2. I don’t dare to open the screwed back because I’m afraid to leave some nasty scratches. But I’m pretty sure that a J880.2 will have basically no real resemblance to the legendary J88. Most likely there is just a slightly modified Valjoux 7750 under the hood.

But who cares about such details in such a beautiful watch?

The only downside I recognized was the original strap. It is made of simple black leather and appears very cheap. The buckle isn’t even marked. 

So I put on a black stingray strap with folding clasp. 

I can absolutely recommend this watch to everyone who is seeking a minimalistic dress chrono which is reduced to the minimum but otherwise still very functional and easy to read.


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## Guest

Thanks Lars for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Interesting watch!


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## Tragic

I really like that.
Congrats and thanks for sharing!


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## khanh

Great taste in watch Lars!

Love the design!! Tell me where i find and buy this watch?
Can you email the price you got it for? Was it a reputable seller?

Many Thank !



Lars said:


> The Bauhaus scholar Max Bill made some watch
> designs for Junghans back in the 60's.
> 
> All of them were reissued during the last years. Besides some wall clocks there were 3 wristwatches as well. All of them have a nice and reduced 3-hand layout - available either in handwinding or automatic version.
> 
> I often thought about buying one of them but I never pulled the trigger finally. One of the reasons was that these were relatively small (36mm for the manual and 38mm for the automatic).
> 
> But some weeks ago I saw pictures of the new chrono version - called Max Bill Chronoscope.
> 
> From the very first moment I was haunted by that thing. It's one of the most beautiful dress chronos I have ever seen. Therefore I was basically forced to buy it &#8230;
> 
> It has the same reduced and minimalistic design as the 3-hand version - combined with a 2-register 12/6 chrono layout.
> 
> A very eye pleasing detail is the shape of the pushers. These remind me somewhat of old stop watches.
> 
> The Chronoscope has a diameter of 40mm (height 14mm). But due to the very thin bezel it appears in fact even bigger.
> 
> The case is made of mirror polished stainless steel. The dial is matte white. The indices are matte black. The hands are silver but nevertheless they are proving a surprisingly good contrast on the white dial.
> 
> There is another version of this watch with a black dial, silver indices and silver hands as well. The contrast is of course better on that black one. Unfortunately the date wheel is black on white as well instead of vice versa. So the bright white date window really hurts the eye on that otherwise very decent watch. That killed the black one for me.
> 
> The crystal is acrylic and extremely domed.
> 
> Inside ticks a calibre called J880.2. I don't dare to open the screwed back because I'm afraid to leave some nasty scratches. But I'm pretty sure that a J880.2 will have basically no real resemblance to the legendary J88. Most likely there is just a slightly modified Valjoux 7750 under the hood.
> 
> But who cares about such details in such a beautiful watch?
> 
> The only downside I recognized was the original strap. It is made of simple black leather and appears very cheap. The buckle isn't even marked.
> 
> So I put on a black stingray strap with folding clasp.
> 
> I can absolutely recommend this watch to everyone who is seeking a minimalistic dress chrono which is reduced to the minimum but otherwise still very functional and easy to read.


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## Guest

You may try to contact [email protected], they offer this watch for 1190 Euro. They accept MasterCard and Visa. Their website is only in german but maybe a mail would help :think:


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## dalstott

I wish Junghans USA would make more of the new mechanical watches available.


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## khanh

stuffler said:


> You may try to contact [email protected], they offer this watch for 1190 Euro. They accept MasterCard and Visa. Their website is only in german but maybe a mail would help :think:


Thank you Mike !
I did go to Junghans website after i did a search on the forum. I thought the price is expensive. I don't know much about the brand. Is it good value in term of the brand and movement? ( The site does not say which movement in the watch).


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## Guest

khanh said:


> Thank you Mike !
> I did go to Junghans website after i did a search on the forum. I thought the price is expensive. I don't know much about the brand. Is it good value in term of the brand and movement? ( The site does not say which movement in the watch).


Movement is a modified Valjoux 7750. Junghans is a well respected brand here in Germany, commonly known for its efforts on radio controlled watches and (in former times) for their watches in general. The J88 movement is a legandary one.
In the last years Junghans tried to come back with mechanical watches fitted with swiss movements (ETA). The latest interesting news was that Junghans co-operated with Seiko regarding watch-movements. You'll find a couple of threads here on WUS - German Watches Forum dealing with the new model line and movements.


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## Lars

khanh said:


> Great taste in watch Lars!
> 
> Love the design!! Tell me where i find and buy this watch?
> Can you email the price you got it for? Was it a reputable seller?
> 
> Many Thank !


Sorry for my late reply! I bought my watch at timedesign.de. It's 950 € there. If you are from outside the EU (looks like you are from down under, right?) you'll pay just 800 €. For that price I wouldn't hesitate.


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## JohnF

Hi -

Agree here: for €800 you're getting quite a watch. The insides are a modified 7750 (no Seiko-made new calibre inside, unfortunately...) and I've seen it in the flesh: very good design, the upper totalizer has this tiny "h" and the lower totalizer a tiny "m" so you immediately know which is hours and which is minutes.

Now. let's see: €800 is around $1100, plus shipping and handling.

Basically you're not going to find much more of an original piece for this price. Me, I'd have loved to have had Junghans actually made the chrono version of Bill Max' designs from that time period so that I could have it vintage from that time, but hey, I'm a vintages guy. Wouldn't stop me from acquiring it, though... hmmm. That bonus is there next month...this or a Guinand, that's a tough one... 

JohnF


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## khanh

Lars said:


> Sorry for my late reply! I bought my watch at timedesign.de. It's 950 € there. If you are from outside the EU (looks like you are from down under, right?) you'll pay just 800 €. For that price I wouldn't hesitate.


Thank you Lars and John for your response, i 'll have a look into Timedesign.de.
Agreed. Not a bad price for a Valjoux movement. Great vintage look...can't forget it.
Will certainly be on my list...have 2 other pieces to purchase this year end, if my budget permit in July tax's return, i 'll pull the trigger .

Cheers,

Khanh


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## wintermutt

Beautiful watch, but the lower pusher in your photo appears to be badly bent and misaligned. What happened?


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## MINIDriver

dalstott said:


> I wish Junghans USA would make more of the new mechanical watches available.


Check www.allabouttime.net

They are an authorized Junghans dealer in the US and are based in Cleveland, OH. They carry the Max Bill auto and hand wound watches in addition to their atomic watch lineup. I purchased my Junghans Mega 1000 watch from them a few weeks ago and very happy with the price and attentive service.


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## lecorbusier

Lars said:


> The only downside I recognized was the original strap. It is made of simple black leather and appears very cheap. The buckle isn't even marked.
> 
> So I put on a black stingray strap with folding clasp.
> 
> I can absolutely recommend this watch to everyone who is seeking a minimalistic dress chrono which is reduced to the minimum but otherwise still very functional and easy to read.


Same here: I found the strap to be of average quality; and certainly unsuitable for use in a hot and humid climate. Mine is not the Chronoscope model. But nonetheless, I think, a classic from Bauhaus and Ulm.









Shot with DSC-T500 at 2009-04-20


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## Outlawyer

Beautiful watches IMO. I can't stop thinking about it, which is a bad sign that I'm sure you're all familiar with. Congratulations to both of you!
timedesign has some gorgeous watches. Lars, where are the pics of your chronoscope?


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## wicked

Here's my Max Bill. A few areas could be better, not just the strap, but it's easy to overlook them when the design is so beautiful.


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## webvan

Very smart looking watch, not sure what happened to the pictures in the original message though ?


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## tribe125

wicked said:


> A few areas could be better, not just the strap, but it's easy to overlook them when the design is so beautiful.


This watch has been tugging at me like the moon for years. What are the other areas that could be better?


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## Guest

webvan said:


> Very smart looking watch, not sure what happened to the pictures in the original message though ?


They have been removed from photo host.


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## momentum

tribe125 said:


> This watch has been tugging at me like the moon for years. What are the other areas that could be better?


I would also be interested in this. I really like this watch and plan to buy it, but it is pretty hard to find any buyer reviews so I'd like to know which areas you feel could be improved?


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## laser8

I own one and here are the things that may be improved (if they may bother you):

- unsigned crown
- no WR
- strap/buckle
- clip on caseback

The watch (to me) is perfect like it is. I think you won't regret buying one, I never seen one used for sale.


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## tribe125

laser8 said:


> The watch (to me) is perfect like it is.


Yes, I would accept all of those things as being 'the way it comes'.


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## momentum

I heard from someone that they thought the acrylic felt a bit flimsy, although I also suspect that that could be because dress watched with acrylic crystals tend to be a lot lighter than those with sapphire. 

As laser8 says, I have never seen a used one for sale, including the chronoscope, which must say a lot!


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## Watchbreath

:roll: My wife draged me into Macy's Sunday and going past the watch counter I spotted something different. It was Kennith Cole's version of the
chronoscope. From a distance, dang! Case, pushers and look! But this 
was a 3-6-9 tri-compax and the chrono was running. Tryed to turn it off,
nothing, the pushers were for show only. :-s A fake chrono! The price, 150 USD, well at that price, what do you expect? It sure cought my eye, 
from about 10 feet.


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## Jesus G

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.. White Cronoscope will be my next watch


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## laser8

momentum said:


> I heard from someone that they thought the acrylic felt a bit flimsy, although I also suspect that that could be because dress watched with acrylic crystals tend to be a lot lighter than those with sapphire.
> 
> As laser8 says, I have never seen a used one for sale, including the chronoscope, which must say a lot!


I think the acryl is part of the "charme" of this watch, being a late 50's replica. It does scratch easily (being made of plastic, pretty domed, and pretty exposed) but I do not mind as it polishes just as easily too.

Here are some pics:


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## Guest

laser8 said:


> I think the acryl is part of the "charme" of this watch, being a late 50's replica.


Yep, that's exactly the reason. And for a domed sapphire crystal you would have to add some 100 bucks.


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## Marq

Hello folks, I'm new here.
Not native english speaking, so have mercy. I'm borrowing this thread, as it might concern others aswell:
I have a Max Bill Automatic 027/3501 with leather wrist band, but want to replace it with a "Milanaise" strap. I have not found any part number for this specific band.
The watch has a 20mm band, and Junghans has a strap Nr 420/5049.94 / Edelstahl / 20mm wide, 2mm thick, about 18cm long.
I'm sure it fits, but is this bracelet the "real thing" for these?


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## Kilovolt

Hi Marq and welcome to the forum! Your English is excellent so you don't have to worry.

I have had the same problem for my Max Bill Chronoscope but at the end I decided to stay with the original leather band. In any case if you choose the milanaise steel band you have to note that your watch exists also in another version 027/4002.44 that has a date window and also the milanaise band.
So the original Junghans band of this watch (probably the ref. number you mention) with the brand name on the buckle can also be used on your 027/3501 and it is the 'real thing'


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