Junghans Mega
The Junghans Mega was "the world's first radio-controlled wristwatch with hands"[1][2] (analog watch) in 1991.[3] It was produced by the German watchmaker Junghans, who had already introduced a digital watch called Mega 1[4] to the market in 1990.[5]
Overview
[edit]Description
[edit]The Junghans MEGA has a stainless steel case with partial gold overlay. The white dial with two gold hands and a rectangular LCD display is protected by a circular, scratch-resistant mineral glass. The antenna for receiving the time signal from the DCF77 transmitter in Mainflingen is housed in a leather strap (brown or black) with a folding clasp. The watch is equipped with time zone setting, perpetual calendar (day of the week, date, month), digital second, internal time memory, reception control display, and transmitter call button.[6]
Technical specifications
[edit]"The Junghans MEGA watch receives long wave time telegrams (77.5 kHz) from the official German standard ... time signal transmitter DCF77"[7] with a wristband antenna. This allows for Europe-wide reception within a 1,500 km radius. The clock is synchronised daily with an atomic clock from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in order to display the official time in Germany as accurately as possible.
A time synchronization with the transmitter is performed at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. In case of reception issues, the synchronization is repeated every hour until 6:00 a.m.[7] This ensures that the time accuracy is 1 second in 1 million years.
The movement is a quartz mechanism of the w605 type with a quartz time base of 32 kHz and a light barrier for hand position control. The power supply comes from a lithium metal battery in the form of a button cell with 3V[7] nominal voltage.
History
[edit]In 1985, Junghans introduced the first radio-controlled table clock to the market.
By 1990, Junghans engineers had miniaturized this technology to fit into the case of the digital wristwatch MEGA 1. The following year, in 1991, Junghans launched the analog version MEGA with hands.
In 1994, there was "another premiere: Junghans presented the first radio-controlled watch for women."[8]
In 2025, the Junghans watch factory still produces Mega radio-controlled watches.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mega 1". rmg.co.uk. The Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
The world's first radio-controlled wristwatch with hands. Junghams MEGA
- ^ "Neuheiten-Katalog 1991/92, Junghans Uhren GmbH" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2024. JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH, Schramberg
- ^ "Buy Your Junghans Watch Safely Online » Zeitlounge.com". www.zeitlounge.com. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
As an innovative pioneer ... the first analogue radio-controlled wristwatch ... MEGA series in 1991
- ^ "The Original Radio-Controlled Watch Gets a Rare Minimalist Reissue". gearpatrol.com. GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
Junghans revolutionized the watchmaking industry by launching the first-ever radio-controlled watch, the Mega 1
- ^ "UHRENGESCHICHTE" (pdf>). junghansarchiv.de/. Junghans Uhren GmbH. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
1990 Market launch of world's first radio-controlled wristwatch, Mega 1
- ^ "JUNGHANS Timely innovation" (pdf>). junghansarchiv.de/. Junghans Uhren GmbH. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Radio-controlled wrist watch (operating manual). Schramberg: JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH. p. 22 - 30. 42.712-0226/0591.
- ^ "Das aktuelle Funkuhren-Programm 1994, Junghans Uhren GmbH" (PDF). Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) JUNGHANS UHREN GmbH, Schramberg - ^ Brooks, Suzie (2021-01-29). "History of Junghans Watches: All You Need To Know - Brief History & 2021 Collections". Watch Specialists. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
Radio-controlled accuracy has gone on to become synonymous with Junghans. Any watch with MEGA in its name indicates that the watch has radio-controlled timekeeping.