Led by Kari Voutilainen and backed by an American collector, Urban Jürgensen has been revived in grand style. The brand’s inaugural watch is undoubtedly one of this year’s most surprising launches, the UJ-1 250th Anniversary Watch. The first of three new models, the UJ-1 is a limited edition that pays tribute to the Oval, a pocket watch created by Peter Baumberger and Derek Pratt that is perhaps brand’s greatest timepiece.

Having been dormant for a while and a little confused in terms of focus (including jumping on the fad of an integrated bracelet sports watch), the brand is now running full steam ahead and going back to its high horology roots with a trio of models, led by the UJ-1 that lives up to expectations, and then some.

Initial thoughts

The UJ-1 sets the tone for what is to come from Urban Jürgensen by Kari Voutilainen. Even before turning the watch over and admiring its movement, the execution of the dial hints at the quality within, reflecting the fact that Mr Voutilainen is an undisputed master of guillochage.

At first sight the piece shows an engine-turned face that is tastefully restrained. The collective style of Breguet, Jürgensen, Pratt and Voutilainen can be immediately discerned from the dial. While wearing all the marks of traditional engine-turned dials, the proportions, the typeface and the “zero” marker make it look a little updated and almost leaning on the minimalistic.

The subtle change suggests that the brand is truly going into a new and decisive direction and not merely recycling the old recipe. A sort of quite minimalistic undertone is felt all around the piece (except maybe for the movement), with the redesigned lugs and simple but beautiful case.

Perhaps the only controversial aspect of the new design are the stubby lugs described as “reinterpreted Jürgensen teardrop”. Personally, I find the classic teardrop shape more appealing and fitting for the classic format. All things considered, the simple and well-executed case fits the piece, since the internals remain the main point of interest.

The main showpiece of the UJ-1 is the movement inside, which is modelled after Derek Pratt’s Oval tourbillon. Voutilainen’s talent and intimate connection to the original piece are clearly apparent here, with the caliber being exquisite in both conception and finish.

This UJ-1 is surely one of the most surprising launches of the year so far. From dial to movement, the piece does not disappoint as it tastefully pays tribute to one of the most exquisite pocket watches of the modern era.

That said, the quality and sentimentality come at a hefty price, and any prospective buyer will need to depart with almost CHF400,000 for any of the 75 pieces in the limited edition run.

The Oval connection

Officially, Urban Jürgensen is making a comeback on its 250th Anniversary, though for the sake of accuracy, 2025 actually marks the brand’s 252nd anniversary, since the Jürgensen brand was established back in 1773 by Jurgen Jürgensen, the father of Urban.

The flagship anniversary edition, however, is far more recent than that. The Oval was started in the 1980s and took some decades to finish. We covered the Oval, just before it was sold at Phillips in 2024. The piece is among the masterpieces in contemporary horology and one of Pratt’s greatest works.

While the late Pratt died before completing the movement, Kari Voutilainen picked up the build, applying the exquisite finishing. Now the Finn pays a thoughtful tribute to the Oval, adapting the unique and celebrated movement to a wristwatch version.

The resemblance between the UJ-1 movement and the original Oval pocket watch is uncanny. Beyond the general appearance, the two movements are structurally very similar and share some key details. 

In simplistic terms, the two movements are almost identical; they share a flying mainspring barrel design, a prominent centre wheel and a flying tourbillon cage containing a constant force device.

Part of the magic of Pratt’s design is that the remontoire is located inside the tourbillon cage, meaning the entire cage advances in one-second increments, as does the seconds hand. This behavior differentiates the UJ-1 from other constant force tourbillons that locate the remontoire ‘upstream’ of the escapement.

The two movements are not entirely identical however. There is the obvious shift to a smaller, circular form factor, compared to Pratt’s original ellipse-shaped large pocket piece. Also, constrained by the smaller dimensions and different fabrication techniques, the tourbillon cage looks slightly denser, compared to Pratt’s slender metal work.

An interesting change comes in the remontoir d’egalité system itself. Pratt was well known for his love of the Reuleaux triangle cam remontoir, which he used consistently across his pieces.

While the original concept was actually conceived by Barbezat-Bôle, a long defunct Swiss company, Pratt improved the design and famously used a ruby three-lobed cam as the central piece of the system, for reducing friction.

The UJ-1 uses an easier-to-cut steel cam, but the square follower has ruby liners which engage with the triangular cam. A similar approach is taken by Bernhard Lederer in his Central Impulse Chronometer series. 

The tourbillon assembly.

Pratt’s original Oval pocket watch employed a classic detent escapement, whereas the UJ-1 uses a Swiss lever escapement. Under its previous direction, the Jürgensen brand experimented with wristwatch-mounted detent escapements, without much success. The choice of a Swiss lever is very reasonable here. 

The large screwed balance beats at a slow pace of 2.5 Hz and is paired to a hairspring with a prominent Phillips curve. Compared to most modern free-sprung balances, this particular implementation seems to emulate the heavily-screwed balances of the maritime chronometer era, with many pairs of weight and regulating screws. Here the design breaks off visibly from the Oval pocket watch, where only four screw were applied to the balance rim. 

The Urban Jurgensen brand name is hand-engraved on the mainplate.

Subtle details

Now, there are some more subtle details that shared between the UJ-1 movement and Pratt’s oval masterpiece. While the UJ-1’s main plate and bridges are mostly grained, the Oval (that was finished by Voutilainen) featured a deep solarisation pattern emanating from the tourbillon, and a more discreet circular turning under the centre wheel. 

While the solarisation was not kept in the UJ-1, the circular pattern under the centre wheel was retained, as a subtle tribute. There is also a visible polished steel pin breaking the pattern, present in both watches. 

The UJ-1 can run for a decent 47 hours, before the power supply is cut-out by a Geneva stop-work hidden underneath the barrel. The power reserve is displayed on the dial.

The power reserve mechanism was kept in concept but slightly tweaked for fitting the smaller format. The system is not the usual flat differential, but rather the screw and cone system, favoured by both Derek Pratt and George Daniels in their creations. 

Because of the vertical space required and the numerous parts, screw and cone systems are rarely found in wristwatches. Opposite from the cone, over the barrel, there is a raised finger bridge golding the shaft of a gear. In the original Oval pocket watch, a similar finger bridge supported a slot for key winding the barrel. 

The Geneva stop work on the unseen side of the barrel.

Another subtle similarity to Pratt’s pocket piece lies in the going train arrangement. Geared-off from the flying barrel is the prominent centre (or second) gear, but the third gear is hidden, much like in the Oval. This gives off the pleasant impression that the tourbillon runs all by itself.

One welcome and particular detail that is suggestive of Voutilainen’s own brand and work are the two gold settings, one for the central wheel bridge jewel and one for the tourbillon upper cap jewel. This is identical to what Voutilainen uses in his Vingt-8 movement series. 

Well-executed dial

The UJ-1 is available in three distinct versions, two in platinum and one in rose gold. Each version will be produced in 25 example, for a total of 75 pieces.

The difference between the two platinum models lies in the dial, with one version following a darker theme, with the engine-turned dial parts coloured in a dark grey shade. The 5N rose gold version works very well with the traditional silvered dial.

While the UJ-1 movement is undoubtedly meant to be the centerpiece of this anniversary watch, the dial is equally well-made. Compared to Voutilainen’s more lavish and colourful dials, this one is more subdued, featuring only two types of engine-turning and a thick chapter ring for the hours. 

The main dial portion is finished with a wavy grain d’orge pattern, while the small seconds sub-dial at six o’clock is finished with clous de Paris. Brushed silver sectors encircle both the main dial piece and the sub-dial.

Contrasting with the rest of Roman numerals, the 12 o’clock index was replaced with an Arabic zero numeral. The numeral can be interpreted as a symbol of the brand starting anew, after years under not a very cohesive direction. There is also a six o’clock label of “Copenhagen”, although the pieces are Swiss made.

One might argue that the observatory hand set is a little slender. Indeed, the hands could’ve profited from a more substantial profile, but the cohesion with the dial remains intact. A nice touch is the blued steel cap added to the hub of the hour hand.

The case of the UJ-1 comes at a well-proportioned 39.5 mm by 12.2 mm size. The main case is fairly simple, with a stepped and polished bezel and a signed crown engraved with the new Urban Jürgensen logo. The grain d’orge engine turned pattern is found on the case back as well.

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, 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: 75 pieces in total
Availability: Direct from Urban Jürgensen
Price: CHF368,000 excluding taxes

For more, visit Urbanjurgensen.com.