Wempe Celebrates its 100-year partnership with Junghans with a Limited Edition Meister Chronoscope

Wempe, the family-owned retail giant founded in 1878 in Hamburg, has become one of the biggest names in luxury watch sales. Now in the hands of a fourth-generation Wempe, the retailer has 29 showrooms worldwide and produces special editions with leading German watchmakers. Designed together with Wempe, the latest 100-piece limited edition, which celebrates Wempe’s 100-year partnership with Junghans, is a contemporary take on the Meister Chronoscope with an attractive light blue dial. 

Junghans is a reputable German brand and, at one point in its history (1903), was the largest manufacturer of clocks in the world. Proud of its solid and almost uninterrupted history since 1861, Junghans plays the Bauhaus design card with great credibility. The elegant, vintage-flavoured Chronoscope, which takes its design cues from a 1936 chronograph, is somewhat hard to pigeonhole. Ostensibly a chronograph, its elegant, dressier demeanour elevates it to another level.

Viewed from the side, you can appreciate the pie-pan architecture of the 40.7mm polished stainless steel case with a smaller base expanding to the wider opening for the dial with an almost non-existent bezel. The 13.9mm thickness is absorbed by the clever case construction, resulting in a much slimmer-looking watch. The dial, which is usually protected by vintage-style plexiglass, comes with a convex anti-reflective sapphire crystal.

Appearing with different dial colours, and even a more robust, sportier ‘S’ version, the Wempe Chronoscope features an on-trend light blue dial. The domed dial features the signature recessed and bowl-like sub-dials for the chronograph at 12 and 6 o’clock with blue interiors and dark blue hands, accompanied by a smaller seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock. Marking a first, the name Wempe is printed underneath the double-framed day-date aperture at 3 o’clock.

The soothing light blue dial does not play with contrasting colours, and the calendar and date discs feature the same shade of blue for a harmonious effect. A nice detail is how the elongated rhodium-plated indices and the tip of the minutes hand are bent to follow the curvature of the dial.

The Chronoscope is powered by the calibre J880.1 (base calibre Sellita SW500), with a power reserve of 48 hours. Finishings include rhodium-plated components, perlage on the base plates, Côtes de Genève stripes on the rotor and cover plate, and blued screws, all showcased through the mineral crystal caseback secured by five screws.

The watch is paired with a midnight blue alligator strap and a stainless steel folding clasp. It is limited to 100 pieces and available worldwide from 7 May 2025 in all Wempe showrooms with a Junghans concession for EUR 2,590. More information at wempe.com.