Collectors’ guide to Urban Jürgensen Wristwatches
In the more modern context, Urban Jürgensen & Sønner is best known for the series of wristwatch references the brand serially produced in small numbers between 1982 and 2010. The earlier date was when the brand produced its first wristwatch reference, while the latter was when the man who resurrected Urban Jürgensen & Sønner died, marking the end of this era.
This third and final instalment of the collectors’ guide to this historic brand will focus on References 1-10, which issued from the same preference for classicality and hand-craft that had shaped the pocket watches the brand also produced in this era.
The guide also encompasses the exceedingly small number of minute-repeater wristwatches that were conceived during this period, although some of them were finished and retailed after 2010. Finally, we must consider the brand’s significant efforts to create the first wristwatch calibre with a pivoted detent escapement, although this too would only come to market after 2010.
We detail the watches and their configurations and try to understand the context in which they were created. For this, we reference the knowledge of Dr Helmut Crott, Kari Voutilainen, Hans Ryser, and Christophe Claret, all of whom worked with Baumberger in different capacities during this period. We also speak with Luca Soprana, who has in many ways taken on the task of furthering the legacy of Derek Pratt, the watchmaker whose hands delivered much of Baumberger’s ideas from ether to the physical world.