As I like luminous watches and with World timer data on the dial, this Junkers model looked of interest.  This is the very new Junkers 6892-5 GMT Chronograph, which manages to have that Classic look about it, but perhaps a little more modern than many in the Junkers range.  It also seems to promise some sort of travel practicality that might be useful to me as I still travel quite a bit these days.  This particular model unfortunately is not mechanical but does feature the highly accurate Swiss ETA G10-962, 4 jewel Quartz movement, which I can more or less set and forget.

The satin finished Stainless Steel case is well sized at 42 mm diameter (45 mm including crown) x 12 mm height, with a cream dial and a decent Water Resistance of 10 ATM or 100 m and comes across as a practical dress watch in function and looks.

However, as I found out this in not what we call a “world Timer” model. Basically this model shows a time zone index (time zones as + 1, + 2 etc.) inscribed on what is really a GMT (or local time list) sub-dial.  Incidentally this information is duplicated on the watch back, so other than a piece of time zone data, it has no mechanical function whatsoever.  Unlike some other World time models there isn’t a WT complication feature ie; to move the hands instantly to another time zone using a pusher.
Indeed you could be forgiven for mistaking the “Red” coloured upper right pusher for such a complication, but alas it is simply the usual start/stop chronograph function and a hands reset feature.

You can alter the GMT dial to show your home Zone, by pulling the crown out to position 2, press the red pusher and use either it or the lower pusher to move the pointer in single stages or 15 minute increments.

The Chronograph function is quite decent, with split time and so on, (minutes are indicated by the Local time dial @2) and is started and stopped by the top “Red” pusher – I suppose just to highlight the chrono function start.

So, overall whilst a nice Date and Chronograph watch, don’t mistake this for a word timer.

The next feature highlighted in the specification is the luminous cream coloured dial.   It advertises two forms of luminous ability.   Firstly the broad luminous and elegantly shaped Hour and Minute hands are apparently Super-Luminova coated and the entire dial surface is coated in Super-luminova. This, according to the advertising should give this model outstanding readability in total darkness.   Note the numerals/indices are made of contrasting black Anthracite.

However, knowing the often lack-lustre luminous quality of previous Junkers watches (I have three older models) I’m curious to see if it does in fact live up to the luminous potential.

So, as usual I performed my usual at home practical test – which is – Just before retiring I set the watch on my bedside table and shoot off the the bathroom for a wash and get ready for bed (I know this is mundane, yes? but that’s life!).  This perhaps takes around 10 minutes and during this time the watch is sitting under and facing dial up towards my bedside table lamp and  the luminous dial is being charged.
And sure enough with lights out, the entire watch face is lit up brightly and the hands are silhouetted black with a good contrast against it and you can read the time perfectly. Really impressive and so far so good and the time was 01:30am.

However, at 02:40 in the morning, whilst the dial still had some luminescence, the Hand contrast was much reduced and though I could still make out the time, it wasn’t that easy.  However, at 03:45 I could not make out the time at all, the hands effectively having the same tone as the now, very faint dial background and it was not possible to read the time. So the effective night use is only about 1½ hours and after that it’s unreadable.

The problem is that the hands are not black, but only black edged and have an infill, which is supposed to be luminous but don’t actually appear to be.  So, if after a night out you leave the bright lights inside and walk out in the dark to your car, the watch is fine and you’ll see it OK, as your talking minutes here, not 2 hours.  But as an all night job, forget it.
The watch seems to have an issue – either make the hands decently luminous against a normal dial or 2, or  make the hands solid black against the luminous dial and here Junkers have managed neither very well.

Note -As regards the dials – just a note – it is really quite complicated to set and reset hands and dials. You will need to refer to the instructions.

I do wish when Brands promote a luminous quality, they would do it properly so the luminous effect works for a decent period of time. Under 2 hours is not, in my opinion, good enough today.

I attach some real photos of the GMT Chronograph for you that show the watch as it is, rather than web page style images, which can be so misleading.

Note, this watch came with a very good quality leather strap and buckle, and is full size (made for large people) and I’m just a 170 mm wrist.  On the very last hole it’s still too big and as a consequence doesn’t tighten effectively, unless you start punching holes in it, which I’d rather not do.
In my case I replaced the strap with a silicon deployment which better suited me.  The watch then fits neatly against the wrist and the strap is as it should be, unobtrusive and neat.

So OK, a nice watch, Date Chronograph with centre seconds hand, a GMT subsidiary (data only) dial with some (very small) City Zone time markings around it and that’s about it.  No real “World time” functionality and the much vaunted luminous features not as expected and ultimately disappointing. Which is a shame as it is a very good looking watch.
In short, had the luminous feature come up to scratch and the GMT featured a genuine world time function that moved the Hour hand to a selected Time Zone for example, then this would have been a really good buy.

As it is, it didn’t and it wasn’t . . . . . . . BUT of course, if you simply want a nice looking, good quality and accurate watch, with a decent movement that shows the date as well – then you’re in business. As I say, it is a very good looking watch.