Introducing the ochs and junior line date 1.22

The ochs und junior line family, which aims to deliver all the ochs and junior creativity at more affordable prices, welcomes a second watch to the fold this week in the new ochs line date (or mese) 1.22. The first line watch featured a rather inventive take on a dual timezone display, and the line date 1.22 provides an equally compelling execution of the date complication, all done in the brutal levity of ochs and junior’s bauhaus style. It looks rather self-explanatory at a glance, but upon closer inspection, there’s plenty to unpack with this one. 

The line date 1.22 pairs a matte black dial with the three primary colors red, blue and yellow, a not so subtle nod to the playful simplicity of the watch. The hour, minute, and seconds hand are rendered in blue, yellow, and red respectively, with the base of the seconds hand serving as a cap to the hand stack. Yellow bars mark each 10 minutes around the dial, but that’s not their sole purpose, as they also aid in getting a quick read on the date. At a glance, the date looks to be a nightmare to read unless it’s at the 1 or 31 position, given the lack of any numerals on the dial, but there’s a system at work here to provide guide marks.

The yellow bars that mark each 10 minutes, also pace out each 5 days of the date display, meaning 30 of them round the dial perfectly, and necessitating the 31st date aperture be tucked above the 1st date aperture. This spacing also allows those date apertures to serve as the even numbers of the minute track, with the spaces between representing the odd minutes to aid in reading the hours and minutes. I imagine the layout needing a bit of adjustment to read quickly, but the tools are there to do so. The result is a wonderfully simple, yet fun dial orientation and design.

The clean bauhaus design of the dial is paired with a 39mm case constructed of titanium. It measures 10.4mm thick, and the lugs barely break the plane of the case diameter so this will maintain a rather small footprint on the wrist. The case itself retains the somewhat raw appearance we’ve seen on previous och and junior watches, as a style embraced by the brand for the weight it lends to the self-described brutal nature of their design language. 

The movement is an ETA 2824-2 with a modified date wheel, which gets a “precisely calculated curved dash” rather than the usual slew of numerals. Being a part of the line family, there will be no customization options. Delivery times are between 12 and 16 weeks at the price of CHF3,230. For more, visit ochs and junior.