When the Bundeswehr was established in 1955 as a completely new military force for the defense of West Germany, Junghans was tasked with the order of manufacturing a service watch for its pilots. They went on to produce a legendary pilot choreograph with the iconic dodecagonal bezel. Based on this design, Junghans has created the Meister Pilot Chronograph, a modern interpretation of the pilot chronograph that has faithfully served the Bundeswehr.

The Junghans Meister Pilot Chronograph has an ETA-based automatic chronograph movement with a 10 atm water resistance. The dial and case design are visually striking, and the non-clicking smooth gliding bezel is a pleasure to turn. The Meister Pilot adopts a robust sapphire crystal in place of the warm but scratch-prone coated plexiglass Junghans uses on most of its watches, thus removing many people’s only barrier to getting a Junghans timepiece. At 43mm case diameter and 14mm case height, it is fairly large, but it’s the right size for a well-proportioned pilot’s watch.

With the degree of attention to detail in both design and function that Junghans is well known for, this sports watch from a company that is better known for their dressier pieces blows many other sports watch brands out of the water. Junghans is definitely building a more diverse portfolio, and doing it right with its own distinct style and design philosophy that set it apart from other watch brands.