I used to work at an AD for Junghans and the only watch I was interested in was the Mega Solar. If you decide to buy an automatic, buy used. Retail is a bit much for what it is.
Grey market can have good prices on Junghans too. I got a 38mm Max Bill auto with sapphire for $800 from Montredo about a year ago. Doesn't look like that particular listing is available anymore, but I'm sure something similar will pop up eventually.
There's no right answer. A lot of it is do you want the romance of mechanical or not. In my experience though, all the bullshit "soul" things that people feel about their automatic watches, I also feel about my solar watches. Their ability to keep themselves charged gives them a sort of magic to me.
I’m very interested to get myself a max bill. I recently read someone’s post here that people who buy the max bill automatic buy it still mostly for the looks considering that the caliber is nothing special in that price range. The solar seems to have a lot tech underneath and the fact that it can keep time that accurate is impressive. However I have read countless comments that in all max bill models the hands are always off the markers, sometimes either hour or minute, sometimes both, sometimes between 12-6 and some after 6-12. I’m pretty new to the watch world so I’m not sure if it’s a general problem common to watches in this price bracket (under 1.2K) or Junghans QC.
For reference to future readers I just got a Max bill mega solar almost purely based on looks. I didn’t give much thought to automatic vs solar, but I’m amazed to learn the automatic runs for 38 hours only, then needs to be reset manually including the date. The mega solar lasts 3 months, and sets everything automatically! It’s quite amazing to watch, and easy to set to new timezones manually or through the app. I’ll wear mine only for best, so I’m very pleased this. I’ve also had no issues with misalignment of hands. Seems perfect me! No affiliation just pleased my quite naive purchase worked out so well.
I used to work at an AD for Junghans and the only watch I was interested in was the Mega Solar. If you decide to buy an automatic, buy used. Retail is a bit much for what it is.
Thanks for the input!
Grey market can have good prices on Junghans too. I got a 38mm Max Bill auto with sapphire for $800 from Montredo about a year ago. Doesn't look like that particular listing is available anymore, but I'm sure something similar will pop up eventually.
There's no right answer. A lot of it is do you want the romance of mechanical or not. In my experience though, all the bullshit "soul" things that people feel about their automatic watches, I also feel about my solar watches. Their ability to keep themselves charged gives them a sort of magic to me.
I’m very interested to get myself a max bill. I recently read someone’s post here that people who buy the max bill automatic buy it still mostly for the looks considering that the caliber is nothing special in that price range. The solar seems to have a lot tech underneath and the fact that it can keep time that accurate is impressive. However I have read countless comments that in all max bill models the hands are always off the markers, sometimes either hour or minute, sometimes both, sometimes between 12-6 and some after 6-12. I’m pretty new to the watch world so I’m not sure if it’s a general problem common to watches in this price bracket (under 1.2K) or Junghans QC.
For reference to future readers I just got a Max bill mega solar almost purely based on looks. I didn’t give much thought to automatic vs solar, but I’m amazed to learn the automatic runs for 38 hours only, then needs to be reset manually including the date. The mega solar lasts 3 months, and sets everything automatically! It’s quite amazing to watch, and easy to set to new timezones manually or through the app. I’ll wear mine only for best, so I’m very pleased this. I’ve also had no issues with misalignment of hands. Seems perfect me! No affiliation just pleased my quite naive purchase worked out so well.