Monochrome Watches
An online magazine dedicated to fine watches

Urban Jürgensen

Swiss/Danish independent high-end watch manufacturer

Urban Jürgensen is an independent high-end brand known for obsessing over details, creating masterpieces that may appear minimalistic, but hide an execution of subtleties that few ateliers can match. Founded in Copenaghen in 1773 by Jürgen Jürgensen, the company is among the foremost watchmaking dynasties in history. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Jürgensen family worked with legends like Jacques-Frédéric Houriet, Abraham-Louis Breguet and John Arnold to set standards for fine watchmaking that still apply today. Urban Jürgensen, first son of Jürgen, continued building the family's brand with innovations like a cylinder escape wheel comprised of hardened steel (instead of traditional brass) to greatly reduce wear and increase reliability. His book, Principes Généraux de l'Exacte Mesure du temps par les Horloges, is still a relevant reference for today's watchmakers. Although headquartered in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, the company is again under Danish ownership with Soren Petersen (formerly with Nokia) as President and CEO.

Urban Jürgensen remained a family business until 1912 with the death of Jacques Alfred Jürgensen, ending a 139-year run of continuous Jürgensen operations. The company never stopped production, however, changing ownership many times for the next 67 years. They started manufacturing wristwatches in 1919 and enjoyed an Art Deco period during the 1920’s, but following the Great Depression, there was a lack of strategic vision. That changed in 1979 as the brand had a renaissance under the leadership of Peter Baumberger, an ardent watchmaker and collector, who was granted permission to use the Jürgensen name for timepieces. He officially acquired the brand in 1985, but had already produced the Ref. 1 Calender Chronograph three years earlier. By 1990, the Ref. 2 Perpetual Calendar wristwatch with 122 Gold and 50 Platinum pieces was introduced, and the brand was again a focused, exclusive watchmaker that shunned machine-aided mass production for tradition handwork at a deliberate pace.

Urban Jurgensen 1140 Platinum Limited Edition

Grenage dials are a specialty for the brand, originating in the late 19th century. The difficult, labour-intensive production process begins with a solid silver disk that’s given ultra-fine engravings of numbers and markings, which are then hand filled with lacquer. When hardened, the disk is diamond-paper-polished to leave only the grooves filled. Multiple steps are then required to build the grenage layer, using a mix of silver, salts and other ingredients that are hand-brushed onto the dial. Following an electrochemical reaction, the dial takes on a silvery frosty finish with unique depth and granularity. This is a very rare technique that few watchmakers attempt. The brand has also mastered the art of guilloché and enamel dials as well.

The new P8 movement, first introduced as a prototype in 2011, was the first to use a chronometer escapement in a wristwatch. This detent escapement was so precise that it eclipsed even the tourbillon in terms of accuracy and had been considered impossible to implement in a wristwatch (it was used in ship’s chronometers in the 18th and 19th centuries). Urban Jürgensen not only successfully created the Pivoted Detent Escapement for its new movement, but also made it robust enough to pass the Chronofiable test – one of the toughest standards in the industry. The company’s wristwatches are also the only ones in the world to have a central seconds hand sweep at three beats per second. A unique identity for collectors.

urban jurgensen hand-manufactured hands

The final products are hand-crafted timepieces from artisans who obsess over the smallest details. The watch hands are never stamped or cut by machines, but handmade from multiple parts that are individually honed, polished, assembled and thermally blued. The eye of the hour hand is a concentrically diamond polished solid gold insert and polishing of the hands consists of secret types of polishing paste on a variation of dried woods. Cases are made from platinum, rose, yellow or white Gold, and in the case of the new Alfred, stainless steel. Unique teardrop lugs are individually soldered to the case, with sapphire crystals on both sides. Case and hand designs are faithful to the brand’s watches from the 18th century.

Pieces like the Reference 1741 with Grenage dial, perpetual calendar, leap year indicator, moon phase and 3-piece platinum case demonstrate the painstaking craftsmanship the brand is famous for. The Ref 1741 caliber is based on the Urban Jürgensen P4 In-house movement with enhancements for the leap year indication. And while the company’s handmade watches are already produced in low numbers, limited editions exist as well. The Grand Complication, limited to just one piece, features a minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, day, date, month and moonphase. A Grenage dial is fitted in a platinum case and the piece exemplifies the brand’s commitment to luxury, exclusivity and traditional artisanship.

History of Urban Jürgensen

1745
Jürgen Jürgensen is born in Copenhagen
1773
Urban Jürgensen & Sønner founded in Copenhagen
1781
Larpent & Jürgensen start production of pocket watches
1784
Jürgen Jürgensen appointed Court Horologist by King Fredrik VI
1798
Urban Jürgensen introduces the steel cylinder escape wheel
1801
Urban Jürgensen introduces his bimetallic thermometer
1804
Urban Jürgensen publishes "General principles concerning timekeeping by clocks and watches"
1810
Urban Jürgensen starts the production of marine chronometers
1818
Company supplies marine and deck chronometers to the Royal Navy
1822
Urban Jürgensen announces his new, detached double-wheel chronometer escapement
1824
Urban Jürgensen is made Knight of the Danebrog Order
1830
Urban Jürgensen dies and his two sons Louis Urban and Jules continue the company under the name UJS
1867
Jules Jürgensen patents his handsetting mechanism
1912
The last Jürgensen, Jacques Alfred, dies, leaving the company in multiple hands until 1979
1919
Company starts manufacturing wristwatches
1979
Peter Baumberger is granted permission to use the Jürgensen name for watches
1982
Peter Baumberger presents the Ref.1 Calender Chronograph
1985
Peter Baumberger officially acquires the Jürgensen brand
1990
The Ref. 2 Perpetual Calendar wristwatch with 122 Gold and 50 Platinum pieces announced
2009
A prototype wristwatch P 8 with the patented detent escapement is presented
2013
First limited series of the new detent escapement movement is presented at Baselworld
2014
Danish private investors, led by Soren Petersen, take over the company
2014
Soren Petersen becomes President and CEO