The Junghans Name – A History of Tradition and Excellence

Most die-hard watch aficionados and collectors swear by the Junghans name. In case you’re not familiar with the brand, the complete name is Junghans Uhren GmbH, and it is widely regarded to be the largest and most successful clock and watch manufacturer in Germany.

The company traces its roots to Junghans and Tobler, a watch factory founded on April 15, 1861 by businessman Erhard Junghans along with Jakob Zeller-Tobler, his brother-in-law. In the beginning, they only manufactured individual watch parts. However, as their popularity increased, the company began to make their own Junghans clocks sometime in 1866.

When Erhard Junghans died prematurely, his son Arthur took over the management of the company in 1875. Arthur was already a trained watchmaker at that time who has studied the latest technology in the US. He was responsible for introducing a lot of new techniques to improve the quality of the watches and clocks. During his time, there were nearly 300 different inventions patented by Junghans.

In 1890, the company adopted the 8-point star logo that is still used until today. Junghans began garnering worldwide attention for their high-quality German watches that were sold at modest prices. In 1903, Junghans officially became the largest watch factory in the world with more than 3,000 employees and more than 3 million watches being produced on a yearly basis. They expanded their factories into a unique step-like terrace construction that allowed natural daylight to enter into the workstation of every watchmaker. This building is now considered a historical building and is protected by the government.

After the death of Arthur Junghans in 1920, his sons Oscar and Erwin Junghans took over the company. They were able to successfully maintain the company’s high standards and worldwide popularity. They were also responsible for completely innovating the watch market in the 1930’s by being the first to introduce wristwatches in the market as an alternative to the more bothersome pocket watches. In just a few years, pocket watches became nearly obsolete as more people chose to buy wristwatches instead.

During World War 2, the company was forced to close their factory, but they were back in business in 1946 when Junghans released the legendary J88, which was the first ever wristwatch that used the chronograph movement technology.

Following their successful post-war reconstruction, Junghans began focusing on developing more precise and more innovative methods to measure time. Towards the 1970’s, the company decided to further develop the newly-invented quartz technology to use in Junghans watches. They made history by being the official timekeeper during the 1972 Olympic Games.