The Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 is one of a trio of watches that marked the relaunch of the company under the leadership of Kari Voutilainen and the Rosenfield Family, and it is very much a watch that arrives with impact. It is a no-holds-barred attempt to reassert what the Urban Jürgensen name has meant and could still mean in the larger story of horology.

The UJ-1 draws a direct line to one of the most remarkable modern horological projects, the Oval pocket watch conceived by Derek Pratt in the 1980s. Pratt, perhaps the most accomplished watchmaker of his generation in terms of classical craft, began the watch but did not live to see it completed. That task fell to Voutilainen, who finished the movement with his characteristically flawless hand.

The dial of the UJ-1 is one of restraint. Guilloché, the craft with which Voutilainen is most closely associated, is finely and precisely executed. The main dial has been engraved with a horizontal grain d’orge and, for contrast, clous de Paris for the small seconds. A silvered chapter ring carries the Roman numerals, with a zero at 12 o’clock inspired by a Jules Jürgensen decimal-time watch. The hands are Breguet in form, finely made and slender.

The main dial has been engraved with a horizontal grain d’orge and clous de Paris for the small seconds (©Revolution)

Turning the watch over reveals the real subject of the UJ-1. The architecture of the movement follows Pratt’s Oval closely, with a flying barrel at 12 o’clock, a prominent central wheel and a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock. The hand-winding train is hidden on the dial side, as is the rest of the gear train hidden to give the illusion of the tourbillon operating in isolation. The flying tourbillon carries a remontoir d’égalité, with the remontoir spring and stop wheel located between the escape wheel and its pinion. While most remontoirs are located outside the cage, upstream in the gear train, this setup enables the escapement and balance wheel to be genuinely isolated from the inertia of the cage.

The magnificent Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 recreates Derek Pratt’s Oval pocket watch with his signature tourbillon and cage-mounted remontoir for the wrist (©Revolution)

Also mounted on the pivot of the escape wheel is a Reuleaux cam whose lobed profile drives an anchor laterally. This motion periodically locks and unlocks the stop wheel below the escape wheel. Each time the remontoir stop wheel, driven by the cage, is unlocked, it snaps forward by one-third of a turn, rewinding the remontoir spring, which maintains torque to the balance wheel. The cycle repeats once per second, moving the cage six degrees.

There are naturally some departures from Pratt’s Oval. A Breguet stop work beneath the barrel replaces Pratt’s Geneva system, governing the 47-hour power reserve that is indicated on the dial via a traditional cone-and-feeler differential. Additionally, unlike Pratt’s original detent escapement, the UJ-1 wisely opts for a Swiss lever, ensuring reliability in a wristwatch. The Reuleaux cam is steel rather than ruby, though the follower is lined with rubies to reduce friction. The free-sprung balance is large, slow-beating at 18,000vph, with its rim heavily weighted with screws, recalling the balances of marine chronometers. The three-arm carriage has been slightly reshaped as well to counter balance the weight of the remontoir in the cage.

Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 (©Revolution)

Finishing is impeccable and beyond dispute. The bridges and main plate are hand-frosted, the screw heads are black polished, the tubular bridge for the center wheel is rounded and perfectly polished, and even the slender arms of the tourbillon are beveled and polished.

Few watches feel as complete — the UJ-1 is proof that great ideas endure when they are carried forward with care, integrity and uncompromising execution.

 Tech Specs: Urban Jürgensen UJ-1

Movement Manual winding Caliber UJ-1, with remontoir d’égalité; 47-hour power reserve
Functions Hours, minutes and seconds; one-minute flying tourbillon
Case 39.5mm × 12.2mm; platinum or 5N rose gold; water resistant to 30m
Dial Silver or gray with hand guilloche (grain d’orge for main dial, clous de Paris for subdial)
Strap Leather with pin buckle