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| Joined: | Sat Dec 15th, 2007 |
| Location: | Luxembourg |
| Posts: | 79 |
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I bought a Junkers Horizon 6750-5 Automatic a few days ago. Time to make a little review!
I always wanted to get myself a watch with a square "screwed" case. I first considered the Steinhart Aviation, but it was too large and thick for me. 44 mm is a lot for a square case! So, I switched to the Junkers Horizon. 42mm is perfect for my 7.5 inches wrist.
The Horizon is available in 16 different versions:
-4 different movements: Ronda Quartz GMT, Ronda Quartz Chrono, Miyota Automatic, Poljot Chrono Mechanical.
-4 different dials: black with white text, black with orange text, silver with black text, blue/brown with white text.
-2 different case finish: brushed and black PVD.
The cheapest is the Ronda GMT in a brushed case, the most expensive the Poljot chrono in the PVD case. But these are still affordable, entry level watches. I decided to go for the Miyota automatic, with a blue/brown dial and a brushed stainless steel finish.
The specifications are the following:
-21 jewels Cal. 821A automatic movement (a decorated Miyota 8215)
-42mm excluding crown
-12mm thickness
-10 ATM water resistance (I'm really skeptical about this)
-Mineral glass
-Hand Made German leather strap.
These specifications are acceptable for this price range. A sapphire crystal would have been better, though :(
The watch was delivered in the standard Junkers tuna can box - the kind of boxes used for cheap fashion watch. I prefer something a little more substantial and/or useful.
Junkers was clearly influenced by Bell & Ross for this model. This Horizon reminds me of the BR-01 94. But thankfully, it's not an homage or a clone. It has its own personality and the case is original. I haven't seen yet a totally similar case - 75% square and 25% octagonal.
The "cockpit instrument" design gives a nice retro military look. The watch feels solid and dependable. The heavy stainless steel case has a "satin" brushed finish, with a few polished area: screws, caseback borders, bezel sides and lugs bevels. The 4 screws on the bezel seems to be there only for esthetic purpose - they are integrated to the case. The curved lugs are short and thin, they don't stick out but follow nicely the shape of the wrist.
Overall the craftsmanship is excellent. I couldn't find any flaws, even with my loupe. The only weakness is the text engraving on the case back. It is not deep enough. It already fades out...
The Miyota 8215 automatic movement works as it should, with a tolerable variation (+8 sec. per day). It is unfortunately noisy: I ear the rotor spinning all the time. I have noticed this on many other watches with the 8215. I hope one day Miyota will improve this (switching to an omnidirectional winding system will probably help, the rotor wouldn't have to make as many turns to wind the spring).
The movement is decorated with radial brush on the rotor and Côtes de Genève on the plates. It makes it look elegant and expensive. With these modifications I find it even more eye catchy than a standard ETA 2824. I'm however disappointed that Junkers decided to add a "FINE GERMAN WRISTWATCHES" label on the rotor. This is lame, since we all know this movement is Japanese :D
The exhibition caseback is attached to the case with 4 microscopic screws. I prefer a normal screwed case, but I suppose it's difficult to include this system on a square case.
The crown feels solid and has a firm response. It doesn't have a screwing locking mechanism. Since I rarely bring my watches underwater, it's not an issue for me. It's even better: adjusting and winding the watch is faster this way. This is, after all, an aviator watch, it should fly in the air not dive in the sea!
The brown leather strap is one of the highlight of this watch. It's attached to the lug with a 20mm extrusion, then goes from 26mm down to 20mm, from the case to the buckle. It's a padded "two skin sides" strap with double stitching. Thick yet comfortable. The inner side is extremely soft. This is one of the best straps I ever had. I'm not as enthusiast about the buckle. It's a basic tang inox buckle without any logo. It feels really cheap :X
My global impression is positive but I wouldn't place this Horizon in my top 10. Like many other Junkers, it is still a few steps away from perfection. Most Junkers are close to a 10/10, but there is always something wrong that brings them down to 8/10. Here it's the mineral glass, the cheap buckle, the non-signed crown and the silly German label on the rotor.
But I love the design. I might get myself the mechanic chrono version one day!
Thanks for reading!
:cool: