Up Close: Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 Tourbillon
Outstanding.
Urban Jürgensen has been revived in fine style thanks to its investors and of course Kari Voutilainen. With the Finn in charge of watchmaking, the reborn brand made its debut with a trio of watches led by the flagship Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 Tourbillon.
Inspired by the Oval pocket watch made by Derek Pratt for Urban Jürgensen, the UJ-1 is impressive in its execution, from construction to decoration. The quality is evident across the watch, which is unsurprising given Mr Voutilainen’s role in its conception and production. And the occasionally controversial lugs give an otherwise classical watch a distinct character.
Initial thoughts
The fine details of the UJ-1 are easily apparent in the metal. The movement decoration and construction are both impeccable, and so is the guilloche on the dial. But it is details like the engine turned case back and typography that give the UJ-1 that little bit of extra refinement.
It is obvious from the photos, the movement quality is outstanding. Frosting, black polishing, chamfering, and so on – all are expertly accomplished. Moreover, all of the decoration is done in a traditional, often manual manner, rather than being mostly done by machine and then finished off by hand as is increasingly the case now.
But finishing is merely the more obvious aspect of the appeal. The construction of the movement is equally impressive. It captures the style of the Oval pocket watch, including the three-dimensionality and clean aesthetics. Even though it’s a complex movement, just like the pocket watch was, the calibre conceals many of the moving parts, leaving only the best bits on show.
There are still a few elements I would have liked to be done differently, though they are a matter of taste rather than intrinsic quality. One is the shape of the tourbillon cage, which is chronometrically optimised but not decorative.
Another is “Copenhagen” on the dial, which feels like it’s trying a little too hard. Fortunately, the city name is fairly discreet at six o’clock.
But more than anything else, perhaps the most polarising element of the design are the quirky lugs. I, however, like the case and the lugs.
Replicating the teardrop lugs that characterised the Urban Jürgensen watches of the nineties would have been easy, and would have likely resulted in watches that are more widely liked. But it would have been formulaic and perhaps repetitive.
The stubby lugs wear well and look good. Though the look might seem odd at first glance, they also recall some esoteric case designs of the 20th century. Importantly, they are distinct and instantly give the brand a recognisable identity, which is not the easiest task given the classical guilloche dial and Breguet hands.
Notably, the lugs also underline the overall quality of make. Each lug is a separate piece, but the tolerances of the case and lugs are so fine that the joints are barely discernible, even under magnification.
The most obvious alternative to the UJ-1 is the Voutilainen anniversary tourbillon. Interestingly, both are essentially miniaturised replicas of pocket watches. Although both are equally accomplished in terms of quality, the UJ-1 reproduces the elegant, concise calibre of the Oval pocket watch better than the Voutilainen wristwatch does with its inspiration.
The movement in the Voutilainen anniversary tourbillon feels constricted, as if too much was squeezed into the space, illustrating the challenge of scaling down a pocket watch movement. In contrast, the UJ-1 calibre feels airy and architectural. This is despite both wristwatches being about the same size.
The UJ-1 is arguably more sophisticated in several ways, including movement architecture, but it is substantially more expensive than the Voutilainen. It’s hard to argue that the difference in price between the two is rational – the UJ-1 costs some CHF80,000 extra – but if money were no object, which is definitely the case for the typical UJ-1 buyer, I would pick the UJ-1.
Oval remade
The UJ-1 takes inspiration from the Oval pocket watch, but only in terms of the movement. The external styling sticks to the pola of the reborn Urban Jürgensen brand.
Produced by hand over two decades – and then eventually completed by Kari Voutilainen – the Oval pocket watch was the magnum opus of Derek Pratt, the English watchmaker who was a contemporary of the more famous George Daniels and by many accounts equally talented.
Pratt sold the unfinished Oval to Peter Baumberger, the then-owner of the brand, just two years after he started work on the watch in 1982 due to financial constraints, explaining why the large-format pocket watch is branded Urban Jürgensen.
He was engaged by Baumberger to finish the watch, and did so for almost 20 years, although the final completion, especially the decoration, was eventually done by Mr Voutilainen. Pratt regretted he could not finish the project according to his family, but the Oval remains very much Pratt’s creation.
The striking calibre of the Oval was translated into wristwatch form by Mr Voutilainen. Even though the UJ-1 movement is modelled on the Oval, it is an entirely new calibre built from scratch.
I spoke with Mr Voutilainen at length about the movement, and he outlined several of the challenges in its conception. But the fundamental problem was the fact that no plans or drawings exist today for the Oval movement, so Mr Voutilainen had to construct the calibre from the ground up – while still retaining the style of the Oval.
According to Mr Voutilainen, one of the most complex elements was the “floating” barrel, which is typically employed in ultra-thin movements, but in the pocket- and wristwatch movements contributes to the three-dimensional appearance.
At 76 mm by 62 mm, the Oval is big, even by pocket watch standards, so the depth and architecture of its movement was more easily achieved than in a wristwatch case. The UJ-1 case is a more modest 39.5 mm in diameter, but the calibre inside still feels three dimensional.
As in the pocket watch, the UJ-1 movement is dominated by a few raised elements like the “floating” barrel and flying tourbillon, with plenty of negative space that emphasises the architecture.
The construction of the UJ-1 movement can be more easily appreciated when compared with the time-only UJ-2. Placed side by side, the two calibres are entirely different, even though the quality of decoration is identical.
Ironically, both are based on pocket watches, but from vastly different eras. The UJ-1 is modelled on the 20th century Oval while the UJ-2 gets layout from a 19th century movement sometimes known as a “Jürgensen” calibre (though in actual fact it wasn’t invented by Jules Jürgensen, a descendent of Urban).
The UJ-1 (left), and UJ-2
But UJ-1 movement is more than a visual tribute to the original. The construction replicates the elegant approach found in the pocket watch movement, which hides many of the movement parts below the base plate. Only the most important elements, like the barrel, tourbillon, and power reserve, are raised, creating the negative space that refines the aesthetic.
Notably, the power reserve indicator also takes after the original, employing the cone and feeler mechanism that was historically found in marine chronometers. This mechanism is anachronistic because of the space it occupies, but it adds to the visual appeal of the movement.
The cone of the power reserve indicator. Image – Urban Jürgensen
And the UJ-1 also reproduces one of the most important mechanical elements of the pocket watch, the remontoir integrated within the tourbillon. This particular implementation of the constant force mechanism was devised by Derek Pratt, at least in the timeframe of contemporary watchmaking, and consists of a Reuleaux triangle embraced by a two-pronged lever and a tiny concentric spring. The mechanism ensures the escapement receives a constant impulse, regardless of the mainspring’s state of wind.
In the Oval, the Reuleaux triangle was synthetic ruby while the lever was steel; the UJ-1 inverts the materials and employs a steel triangle and ruby pallets on the lever. This steel-on-ruby interaction minimises wear over time.
But the remontoir is more than just about chronometry. The remontoir also illustrates the extreme fineness of the components in the UJ-1 movement; here it is many orders of magnitude smaller than that in the Oval pocket watch.
The tourbillon cage also takes after its inspiration with a three-armed design, but in not quite the same design as the pocket watch. While the carriage in the pocket watch movement is radially symmetrical, the UJ-1 cage has its arms at almost 90-degrees to each other.
This design is entirely functional. According to Mr Voutilainen, the cage was shaped for perfect poising of the tourbillon assembly, especially since the weight of the remontoir has to balanced out on the opposite side of the carriage. The resulting cage, however, unfortunately doesn’t have the beauty of the original.
The UJ look
On the outside, the UJ-1 is rendered in the Urban Jürgensen house style that was also conceived by Mr Voutilainen. It’s clearly classical, but with subtle twists that make it unique, including the obvious, like the lugs, and the less apparent, like the “0” at 12 o’clock.
The case design gives the watch a substantial feel, even though the case is neither large nor thick. It’s 39.5 mm wide and 12.2 mm, which is smaller than the Voutilainen tourbillon. The case design works well with the overall style of the watch, and importantly, it wears well on the wrist.
As I wrote earlier, while the lugs are controversial, I like them; I also like the overall look of the UJ-1. The lugs are separate from the case, but so perfectly machined that the seam between the two is invisible.
One of the best details of the case is largely concealed. This is the fine grain d’orge engine turning on the case back that frames the movement and adds an elegant flourish to the case. Mr Voutilainen also pointed it out as one of his favourite details.
I imagine that this decoration complicates servicing a little bit more as the case back has to be removed carefully and with the right tools in order to avoid damaging the guilloche.
A similar guilloche is of course also applied to the dial. Here the grain d’orge (or “barleycorn”) pattern is horizontal, but engraved perfectly as is expected of Voutilainen. The seconds counter is finished with clous de Paris guilloche for contrast.
The hands are classic Breguet style, and surprisingly slender. I would have preferred slightly bigger hands with a more pronounced form, maybe even the hands from the nineties models, but the hands as they are pair well with the restrained look of the watch.
On the prototypes shown at launch, a few inconsistencies in fitting were visible on some dials, but I expect this will be resolved in the production watches.
I would, however, have liked different (or more) colours on the dial, especially for the platinum model with blued hands. That version is the most traditional, but it also looks a bit flat because the dial lacks contrast. My ideal iteration would be a platinum UJ-1 with a custom dial.
And the last thing I would tweak is the buckle for the strap, which looks a little too much like a Voutilainen buckle.
The UJ-1 is available in three variants, two in platinum and one in rose gold, with each limited to 25 pieces. Image – Urban Jürgensen
Conclusion
Beyond the watch, the UJ-1 is surprisingly appealing and authentic despite the “corporate” nature of the brand. Even though it is an independent watchmaker in most senses of the term, Urban Jürgensen is corporate by virtue of its structure – Mr Voutilainen runs the watchmaking and is a shareholder, but most of the company is owned by investors.
Going by the trio of watches the brand launched, that hasn’t been detrimental to the product at all. The UJ-1, in particular, is as good as gets in tangible respects. The brand will have to maintain these standards over time, which seems likely given the owners’ commitment and finances. But for true success over the long term, Urban Jürgensen will also need to become a brand that stands on its own, one that evolves beyond the Voutilainen name.
Urban Jürgensen’s co-chief executives, Kari Voutilainen (left), and Alex Rosenfield. Image – Urban Jürgensen
Key facts and price
Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 250th Anniversary Watch
Ref. UJ-1-PT-S-001 (platinum, silver dial)
Ref. UJ-1-PT-G-001 (platinum, grey dial)
Ref. UJ-1-RG-S-001 (rose gold, silver dial)
Diameter: 39.5 mm
Height: 12.2 mm
Material: 950 platinum or 5N rose gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m
Movement: UJ-1
Features: Hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve indicator, and flying tourbillon
Frequency: 18,000 beats per hour (2.5 Hz)
Winding: Manual winding
Power reserve: 47 hours
Strap: Leather with 950 platinum or 5N rose gold pin buckle
Limited edition: 25 pieces for each of the three variants
Availability: Direct from Urban Jürgensen
Price: CHF368,000 excluding taxes
For more, visit Urbanjurgensen.com.
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