Urban Jurgensen
18K Rose Goud

There’s a fairly good chance you’ve never heard of Urban Jürgensen. The manufacturer hails from Denmark, a country more widely known for its mastery of furniture design than watchmaking and they make watches in far fewer numbers compared to horological juggernauts such as Rolex and Patek Philippe.

It might come as a surprise then, to learn that Urban Jürgensen have been making watches for over 240 years and that they still employ the same hand-made techniques in their creations as they have done for the last two centuries. Although production of their watches is based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, their attention to detail and commitment to excellence remains very much true to their Danish roots.

We are delighted to offer this fantastic example of what makes Urban Jürgensen so alluring to collectors; a reference 1140 RG Brown in rose gold. The watch has never been worn and is limited edition number 05/20.

The watch was first released at Baselworld in 2018 as one of three new additions to the Jürgensen 1745 collection. The centrepiece of the 1140 is the chocolate-brown dial, which is made from a single piece of silver and crafted completely by hand to create the highly complex guilloché pattern. It’s painstaking work, requiring 700 operations carried out on special machining tools (some of which are over a century old) and takes the watchmaker two full days to complete.

The hands are also completely made by hand, taking further hours of work to cut, shape and fit to the dial. The brilliant blue colour is created by a thermal treatment of the steel, which ensures they match the specified Urban Jürgensen shade. Finally the applied Breguet arabic numerals are finished in a polished rose gold, adding an elegance to the dial that a baton marker just wouldn’t achieve.

The 40mm case is made from three pieces of 18k rose gold and finished in a full mirror polish. The most interesting aspect of the case however, are the lugs. Where most watch lugs are milled as an integrated part of the case, the lugs on the 1140 are individually forged, polished and seamlessly applied to the case. The delicate process is carried out by hand, creating the signature teardrop shape Urban Jürgensen are renowned for.

Internally, the watch is powered by Urban Jürgensen’s manually wound P4 calibre movement, which is produced entirely in-house and has a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement, like the dial is finished by hand and can be viewed through the sapphire crystal display back case.

Finished on a brown alligator leather strap and rose gold deployant buckle, the 1140 RG Brown displays Urban Jürgensen’s unwavering commitment to traditional hand crafted watchmaking techniques. Sure, they may not get the recognition of other brands, but by refusing to take the short-cuts that so many other manufacturers do, they are able to produce truly special timepieces that are the equal of their better-known peers.