{"id":30660,"date":"2018-09-06T09:30:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T07:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com?p=30660"},"modified":"2018-08-20T09:37:25","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T07:37:25","slug":"urban-jurgensen-the-time-of-perfection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/nouveaute-en-n-en\/xxl-2\/urban-jurgensen-the-time-of-perfection.html","title":{"rendered":"Urban J\u00fcrgensen: the time of perfection"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story of Urban J\u00fcrgensen began in 1745,<\/strong> guided by a dynasty of watchmakers who made a considerable contribution to the history of horology. Uninterrupted since 1773, the history of Urban J\u00fcrgensen was given a fresh boost in 2014 under the impetus of its CEO and co-owner, S\u00f8ren Jenry Petersen. Perpetuating its founder\u2019s age-old heritage of fine horological workmanship, Urban J\u00fcrgensen produces watches of extremely high quality in which craftsmanship plays a defining role. Proudly aware of its responsibility, the centuriesold brand gives time its true significance and value. For the people in charge of Urban J\u00fcrgensen, the significance of Haute Horlogerie calls for extremely meticulous workmanship teamed with extremely rare skills. In an age when the watch industry prefers to focus on the speed of automated production and the indispensable role of machinery, Urban J\u00fcrgensen remains true to a traditional manual approach to watchmaking. Crafting an Urban J\u00fcrgensen watch takes time, but such is the price of excellence, and each of them \u2013 stemming from the variations naturally implied by human production \u2013 is a one-of-a-kind model keenly appreciated by connoisseurs.<\/p>\n

TRADITIONAL CRAFTSMANSHIP <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ref 1741 PT perpetual calendar from the J\u00fcrgensen 1745 collection features all the aesthetic codes of the Urban J\u00fcrgensen style. Its classic case topped with drop-shaped lugs frames an understated and refined dial highlighting the artisan-based skills that the brand is dedicated to perpetuating \u2013 starting with hand-crafted grenage (sometimes referred to as frosting or fine graining). The markings and numerals are engraved on the solid silver dial, filled with lacquer and them polished. The frosty finish of the grenage stems from brushing a mixture of pure silver, salts and oils on the dial. An electrochemical reaction forms millions of small silver balls leaving the dial with a unique frosted surface of immense depth. Its meticulous execution involves a degree of complexity and various risky stages reminiscent of Grand Feu enameling. Another distinctive feature of Urban J\u00fcrgensen craftsmanship is its moon phase, hand-crafted from a polished steel disc in which tiny stars are manually punched in and filled with gold, then blued and teamed with two gold moons. The entire process comprises over 20 different operations.<\/p>\n

SOPHISTICATED DIALS <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the same collection, the Ref. 1140 RG Brown Limited Edition with its warm chocolate brown and rose gold colors displays three other Urban J\u00fcrgensen specialties : hand making, guillochage and Arabic numerals. The entirely hand-crafted slender steel hands are polished using extremely fine diamond paper and secret polishing pastes, then heat-treated in order to achieve the trademark Urban J\u00fcrgensen shade of blue. The hour hand has a rose gold \u2018eye\u2019 clicked in place by sheer fit of precision. The gaze is irresistibly drawn to the barleycorn and checkered motifs of the splendid engine-turning. Urban J\u00fcrgensen has taken cues from the Grand Feu enamel dials of its historical pocket watches in creating the domed Arabic numerals in solid rose gold, necessitating several cutting processes to create the fine details.<\/p>\n

MOVEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ref. 2240 RG with its 40mm pink gold case, made of three parts and topped by a convex bezel, turns out to be a little more contemporary while preserving the classic Urban J\u00fcrgensen style. On this model from the Jules collection, named after the brand founder\u2019s grandson, winglet-shaped lugs replace the teardrop shape of the 1745 collection. Like the two above-mentioned models, this timepiece is driven by the mechanical manual- winding P4 movement, developed in-house in partnership with Chronode. Comprising two barrels ensuring a 60-hour power reserve as well as stop seconds mechanism, and based on a Swiss lever escapement, this large 32mm movement is also adorned with refined hand-crafted decoration. The sunburst C\u00f4tes de Gen\u00e8ve motif radiating out from the heart of the balance wheel, the chamfered bridges and internal sharp corners, along with the blued, chamfered and polished screws, testify to the exceptional level of artisanal detail mastered by the watchmakers of the Maison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of Urban J\u00fcrgensen began in 1745, guided by a dynasty of watchmakers who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":30657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30661,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30660\/revisions\/30661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gmtmag.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}