Urban Jurgensen

The watch case is traditionally handcrafted, whereby the case ring and the drop-shaped lugs typical of Urban Jürgensen being made separately and then soldered. Connoisseurs will notice the impeccable craftsmanship of this process, where the solder line is barely visible on visual inspection. All parts of the case are carefully polished. The ‘double pomme’ profile of the polished bezel deserves special attention and gives the watch an unmistakable classic character. The same bezel design proved extremely successful in the creation of classic Blancpain wristwatches following the relaunch of the brand collection in 1983 by Jean-Claude Biver.

The dial is also an outstanding example of traditional craftsmanship, an aspect of Reference 2 that the brand, like all other early Urban Jürgensen releases, owes to its master watchmaker Derek Pratt, a protagonist of ancient decorative techniques. In particular, it is known that many early Urban Jürgensen watches, and most likely this example as well, were made by Derek Pratt himself, including the guilloché work, the results of which can be enjoyed when looking at the dial of this watch. The guilloché work on the Reference 2 dial consists of three different styles: a guilloché ‘lozenge’ in the center, a ‘vieux panier’ (basket-weave) guilloché for the date and moonphase sub-dials, and a filet sauté guilloché outline. All the decorations on the dial were made by hand on a rose machine, most likely by Derek Pratt himself – he is known to have been an outstanding master of this finishing technique. The dial of this watch is patinated, so you can see that the date ring is an applied part of the dial. The solid gold ‘Observatoire’ hands by Urban Jürgensen are equally difficult to manufacture. The diamond-polished inner inclination of the ‘eye’ of the hour hand makes it a real eye-catcher.

The movement inside is based on the ultra-thin Frédéric Piguet 71 self-winding caliber, which is still one of the best in its category. The module for the perpetual calendar was developed by the movement manufacturer Nouvelle Lémania for Urban Jürgensen – Peter Baumberger acquired the rights to this module for the Reference 2 and in a modified version with an additional power reserve indicator for the Reference 3. A special feature of the Reference 2 and Reference 3 is the lack of a leap year indicator on the dial. Many may consider this an omission, but it should be noted that without this display, the dial has been given a remarkable symmetry and conciseness that is rare in perpetual calendars.

Furthermore, Patek Phillippe and Audemars Piguet dispensed with the leap year indicator on some of their early perpetual calendar wristwatches. Today, this feature is seen as a sign of the times. Rich Fotrdon of hodinkee.com reports that Derek Pratt chose not to include this indicator because he could not find a version of the dial design that suited his aesthetic sensibilities.

In 2021, Kari Voutilainen, the independent Swiss watchmaker of Finnish origin, took over Urban Jürgensen together with a group of investors and was appointed CEO. The style and obvious craftsmanship, as well as the high proportion of manual labour invested in the production of their watches, are common to both brands.