A DESIGNER'S WATCH: Junghans Max Bill Manual-Wind

Junghans Max Bill, Manual Hand-wound with black cordovan leather strap.

​Max Bill is the most famous Bauhaus student. Other than being an influential 20th century graphic designer, sculptor, architect, industrial designer, politician, teacher, silversmith, rector and the principal figure of Concretism, he also designed a watch befitting any designer’s wrist or the wrists of those who knows how to appreciate great designs—the Junghans Max Bill. I will not go into an in-depth review of this timepiece. You can find that elsewhere. We’ll discuss why choose Junghans Max Bill, especially if you’re a designer.

Back of Junghans Max Bill features the signature of the designer, Max Bill.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (SUMMARY)

Junghans Max Bill ​is a true timepiece in the sense that it's a piece of design history in the form of a wristwatch. Anyone with great appreciation for design should wear it. As to the concern of accuracy and the fuss of owning a mechanical watch as opposed to a quartz or digital watch, I say 2 things:

1. If accuracy is your concern, you don't need to slap any device on your wrist, may it be digital, electronic, or mechanical. You have your smartphone for that. You wear a mechanical watch such as the Junghans Max Bill to remind yourself and celebrate man's ingenuity.
2. A mechanical timepiece is a work of art as well as a marvel of engineering. Yes, it's a fuss to own. Yes, you have to maintain the moving parts every 8-10 years. But rest assured that the Junghans Max Bill is not made to be obsolete after 6 months, like most smartwatches that are flooding the market right now (your phone can do what smartwatches can do anyway, and more!). How about quartz watches? Quartz movement are bought wholesale for less than a dollar, jammed inside a case, then sold to you as a "timepiece" with a 1,000% markup. Don't know about you, but that feels like I'm being cheated.

Think of owning a mechanical timepiece as owning a work of art. You want something that a master created (in this case designed).

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​WHY JUNGHANS MAX BILL AND NOT OTHERS?

​For professional designers Junghans Max Bill is the epitome of great Bauhaus design. It traces its origin back to the source of modern design philosophy (the Bauhaus) and one of the figures who defined it. No other watch can claim such provenance.
​The Junghans Max Bill was designed according to the Bauhaus principles of design: less is more. Function defines form, no frills, no decorations but therein lies the beauty of this timepiece. It’s the embodiment of a long design tradition that defined the modern age. Function and the exacting attention to detail is the source of beauty of The Junghans Max Bill watch.

The well-designed face of Junghans Max Bill screams Bauhaus. The photos I took don't do it justice. This is something that must touched and seen.

​For more than half a century Junghnas Max Bill’s design hasn’t changed. It still looks like the original watches produced by Junghans and designed by Max Bill in the 1950’s. Oddly enough the watch still looks very modern after all those years. This timelessness is testament to a great design and a piece of art history that you could own at a relatively affordable price. The same can't be said with other works of art from the masters or other pieces of art history.

PEOPLE WITH SMALL WRISTS, REJOICE!

For people who have small wrists as I am, at 34mm the Junghans Max Bill fits perfectly. It's a rare find in a world where tasteless over-sized watches seem to be the norm. As a designer I find these oversized watches tasteless, out of proportions and destroys the streamlined design of the human form. This is one of the reasons why I bought the hand-wound version of The Max Bill.

Here's a wrist shot of Junghans Max Bill. It's perfect for those who have think wrists. It looks perfect for my wrists and it looks really sharp with a cordovan strap. Nobody knows that I'm wearing an expensive watch, that gives me a silent confidence that is akin to some sort of a secret knowledge.

QUARTZ WATCH OR MECHANICAL WATCH?

Junghans Max Bill is available in different versions, you can find them in Amazon. You can pick and choose which strap you want (I went for a 3rd party cordovan strap from Amazon). There's a quartz version, automatic version and a hand-wound version, not to mention that it also comes in different colors! There is also a chronograph version and the original version. But the more important question is, quartz or manual? I bought the classic mechanical hand-wound version of the Junghans Max Bill. There’s something so comforting about a non-digital, non-electronic object that works without a battery. It sets the daily ritual every time I wind it in the morning. The classic version is also the one that resembles the original watch designed by Max Bill.
Also as I've mentioned earlier quartz movement are mass-produced in factories in some third-world country and sold for way more than its worth. I'm simply not willing to pay the premium.

READ about Max Bill and how he's a part of design history.

​How about accuracy? If you want accuracy stick with your phone. The reason you’re buying a mechanical watch is to fill some obscure weird anachronistic need for something low-tech. Mechanical watches are not just a device that measures time, but also a piece of functional art that you can regularly appreciate... especially one designed by the most important figure of the Bauhaus movement, Max Bill.

JUNGHANS MAX BILL DIFFERENT VERSIONS/CONFIGURATIONS

As mentioned, Junghans Max Bill comes in different forms, sizes, designs, and strap combination. You can pick and choose one that suits your needs. Personally, I would recommend the classic hand-wound one.