After finding myself without a "Set and forget" multi-function quartz watch and also needing something with an alarm, count down timer, etc, I decided to give the German made Junghans Mega 1000 a second try, and boy I am glad I did!
Early impressions:
This new Mega 1000 025/4513 is much nicer than my first one (026/4512 with negative LCD display). The screen contrast quality in the new one is simply fantastic and light years away from the 4512 I had. The numbers are nice and clear even in less than ideal lighting conditions. My main gripe with the first one was the lack of contrast and generally poor legibility of the negative screen in despite of having 15 levels of user settable contrast.
The positive display works much better with the metal bracelet (I had forgotten how sweet this bracelet is) and love the mirror silver framing of the screen which gives it a very futuristic and classy look.
The crystal is made of sapphire, and as you can see in the photos, it sits below the top and bottom portions of the case and sits completely flush on the sides.
The case is 40mm but the watch in person looks and wears much bigger, thanks to its gargantuan 24mm bracelet end link, which are completely solid.
Functions on this model are dual time, perpetual calendar, day, date, year and week of year display (Most countries in Europe use week of the year, so I have been told), display in English, French, German, 24 hour alarm, countdown timer, chronograph with memory split function (I believe it can store up to 20 split times) and atomic radio sync (Automatic or on demand) in the US (WWVB), Germany (DCF-77) and Japan (JPY 40/60). The screen is fully backlit with a cool blue glow. Those of you that own VW can probably relate to the cool blue glow of the instrument panel at night.
Functions are fairly intuitive and easy to use. Everything can be accessed and set via the 4 buttons mounted on the front top and bottom of the case. The side button/pusher activates the LCD backlight and also locks the screen/functions if you leave it pressed in for more than 5 seconds. Finally a multifunction quartz that doesn't require pulling and turning a crown to switch between the different functions. The backlight is available in all modes as well (Citizen could take a basic lesson in user ergonomics here).
And unlike the Seiko LCD/e-Ink radio controlled offerings, the Mega 1000 is capable of automatically correcting DST time changes as this information is encoded in the WWVB atomic clock radio signal. In the Seikos you have to manually turn on and off the DST setting for home and every other timezone. This is an area where Citizen and Junghans R/C watches have an advantage over RC Seikos. Presumably, the new Seiko Astron GPS also requires manual adjustment of DST time settings but this is not yet confirmed.
The watch sync'ed right before it was shipped so the time and date are right on the money :thumbsup:
This watch is decidedly German in look, feel and overall execution. Feels great on the wrist, although I have to size the bracelet. If memory serves me right, the solid steel links use friction pins so it should be a breeze.
The clasp is dual deployant butterfly type, fully machined and when closed it leaves to gap or bump as it is a fully integrated design.
It is relatively heavy at 180g with no bracelet links removed. This model is also offered with a choice of leather or rubber straps. There is a cool black PVD version with negative display and black rubber strap.
Very happy to be back in the fold with Junghans watches and I can see myself adding a 1972 re-issue R/C quartz solar model or one of their gorgeous solar quartz chronos.
I highly recommend this. If you are looking for a versatile metal cased R/C digital watch with all the trimmings, sapphire, excellent finish, solid bracelet and avant garde design all without braking the bank, look no further to the value packed Junghans Mega 1000.
- minidriver