Urban Jürgensen Unveils A Visionary New Chapter In Haute Horology
Mastering Time Beautifully
PRESS RELEASE | 1790 WORDS | 17 MINUTE READ
The 2025 Collection
Urban Jürgensen introduces three timepieces that showcase technical achievements while honoring the brand's heritage: the UJ-1, our 250th Anniversary Watch that serves as a bridge across time; the UJ-2, the three hand watch with the UJ double wheel natural escapement, in which beauty and philosophy come together; and the UJ-3, a perpetual calendar with instantaneous moon phase built around the UJ double wheel natural escapement, in which complexity and elegance align.
Mastering the Minute
“This collection is a major step forward in a natural progression for Urban Jürgensen,” says Co-CEO Kari Voutilainen, whose involvement with the brand spans decades."The synchronized action of the double wheel natural escapement, visible beneath the balance-wheel bridge of the UJ- 2 and UJ- 3, embodies our philosophy that true innovation in watchmaking isn’t about revolution – it's about thoughtful evolution in pursuit of excellence.”
Honed by Hand
The UJ-1 translates the legendary Urban Jürgensen Pratt Oval Pocket Watch into a wristwatch. It features a tourbillon with a remontoir d'égalité providing constant force to the escapement, and incorporates dead-beat seconds.
The UJ-2 and UJ-3 bring the new signature UJ double wheel natural escapement to life. It is inspired by the work of Urban’s teacher, Abraham-Louis Breguet, perfected by Kari, and tailored specifically for this collection. With two escapement wheels delivering direct impulse to the balance, this design minimizes friction and enhances efficiency, ensuring exceptional stability. The lubrication-free system further advances chronometric precision while improving durability and shock resistance. This movement is a new path for the company while honoring the legacy of Urban’s watchmaking and movement design.
Poetic Precision
The collection introduces a fresh case design featuring reinterpreted teardrop lugs for elegant affordance to the wearer.
Each sterling silver dial is transformed through plating, hand guilloché, and precious metal track application. The Clous de Paris and Grain d'orge patterns, turned by hand on a rose engine, create depth and shifting reflections.
The 5N rose gold-plated movements feature grenage and perlage, as well as chamfers and bevels, along with black-polished screws and satin-finished wheels – all by hand. This attention to artisanship extends to the smallest elements.
Time Well Taken
"What makes this collection particularly significant," notes Co-CEO Alex Rosenfield, “is the way in which it advances Urban Jürgensen's legacy of exceptional watchmaking and brings to life his and our values. This collection combines engineering with craft and emotional resonance. A UJ watch owner may never see some of the decoration and detail that is hidden deep inside the watch’s case but they will know that time was taken to do things right and see an object that aspires to perfection in its making. We do this not because perfection is the key to accuracy—though it is—but because perfection is a goal of its own and a source of joy. In a world in which time is a commodity and industrialization a way of life, we think that a focus on time kept and spent beautifully brings something special to our watches and to those who wear them.”
UJ-1
The 250th Anniversary Watch: A Bridge Across Time
The Anniversary Watch charms the eye with its harmony of graceful curves and light-catching surfaces. But beyond this immediate beauty lies something deeper: it is a bridge. Carrying Urban Jürgensen's philosophy of uncompromising craftsmanship across generations, it reflects the legacy of Peter Baumberger and Derek Pratt, previous stewards of the brand, while looking ahead under Kari Voutilainen’s guiding hand.
A reimagination of the legendary Urban Jürgensen Pratt Oval Pocket Watch, this piece revisits the project that spanned nearly two decades. It miniaturizes and adapts a version of the legendary pocket watch movement into a wristwatch for the first time ever – a feat that has been sought by watchmakers since the Oval’s unveiling.
Every detail represents countless hours of patient hand-finished artistry channeled to create a very special timepiece. Not merely an homage, but a continuation – a watch that makes time itself feel more precious through its affordance on the wrist.
Its story is closely tied to Kari, whose connection to Urban Jürgensen is defined by shared ideals. Years ago, when Pratt could no longer complete the Oval, Peter Baumberger turned to Kari to see it through. Now, as Co-CEO of UJ, he returns – not to replicate, but to carry forward a vision of time kept beautifully.
The Anniversary Watch is not about preserving the past. It is about making it part of today. Every curve, every gear, every guilloché surface speaks to where we've been and what comes next – a celebration of moments made more meaningful by how we choose to mark their passing.
UJ-2
The Three Hand Watch with Double Wheel Natural Escapement: Beauty and Philosophy Come Together
Through the UJ-2’s understated beauty flow Urban Jürgensen's philosophies – that the purest things demand our greatest efforts; that excellence is a goal in and of itself; and that the pursuit of perfection and doing things right is the key to joy. This timepiece is by a Maison that seeks the challenges posed by exceptional watchmaking, and doesn’t skirt them.
At its heart is the double wheel natural escapement – a mechanism whose elegance belies the complexity of its creation. That Urban Jürgensen has chosen this sophisticated system for serial production reveals something essential about the manufacture's philosophy: what others reserve for their pinnacle pieces becomes our starting point. Each component, from the hand-finished wheels to the pristine bridges, to the decoration on parts unseen by the naked eye, exists because that's the way it should be.
This commitment to the extraordinary in service of the essential speaks to Urban Jürgensen's understanding of time itself. When the escapement wheels perform their intricate ballet – each tooth precisely engaging and releasing in a mesmerizing rhythm, orchestrating time with microscopic precision – they represent generations of watchmakers, from Urban’s teacher Abraham Louis Breguet to the watchmakers of today, who looked at accepted solutions and strove to make them better.
The UJ-2 is not about complexity for complexity's sake. It is about the relentless pursuit of perfection in even the simplest things. Every element, visible or hidden, exists as a testament to the belief that marking time beautifully matters – that the way we choose to count our moments shapes how we experience them.
UJ-3
The Double Wheel Natural Escapement, Perpetual Calendar with Instantaneous Moon Phase: Complexity and Elegance Align
In the rarefied sphere of ultra-high horology, a perpetual calendar remains an item of delight. This watch, a creation of Urban Jurgensen Co-CEO, Kari Voutilainen in collaboration with master engineer Andreas Strehler, tames extraordinary mechanical complexity within the confines of a wearable timepiece, achieving that rarest of goals: turning mechanical virtuosity into pure elegance.
It is the story of human ingenuity meeting uncompromising craft, of mechanical necessity transformed into artistry. From the seamless integration of the calendar displays to the Strehler precise moon phase indication, licensed here for the first time in a serially produced watch, each function exists in perfect balance with the others. And at the heart of this harmony beats the UJ double wheel natural escapement.
Each component, each carefully considered detail, is elevated through hand-finishing to a standard that would satisfy Urban Jürgensen himself – a standard that exists independent of whether the component can be seen from outside the watch.
That such ambition could be contained within such graceful proportions speaks to both the intelligence of its conception and the mastery of its execution. The UJ-3 is proof that intricate engineering can achieve sublime beauty, that complexity need not come at the cost of refinement.
In an age where mechanical timekeeping is purely a matter of choice, the UJ-3 demonstrates why that choice matters: because excellence, pursued for its own sake, is a joy in itself. Because the finest watchmaking is as much about the unseen as the revealed – about creating something of lasting beauty and meaning that strives for perfection for no reason but the spirit of the pursuit and the joy of wearing it.
The Portrait Series by Ellen von Unwerth
‘Time Well Spent’: A Fresh Vision for Modern Watchmaking
Working with iconic photographer Ellen von Unwerth, Urban Jürgensen presents a campaign that redefines how we view luxury watches. Each portrait in the series comprises two distinct images that tell a complete story about the relationship between keeping and spending time.
Ellen von Unwerth brings her renowned ability to capture genuine emotion and unguarded moments to Urban Jürgensen. Her distinctive style, celebrated in both fashion and portraiture, perfectly aligns with our vision of showing watches as they truly exist in people’s lives – not as static objects, but as companions in life’s most central moments.
The Concept: Beyond Traditional Watch Photography
The Portrait Series breaks from conventional watch campaign imagery in two significant ways. First, we see subjects deeply engaged in their passions, work and hobbies – a painter in his garden, a designer sailing her racing boat, an athlete exploring her passion for cooking. These aren’t posed product shots; they’re authentic pictures of time well spent.
The second image in each portrait provides an intimate glimpse of the watch in its natural habitat – on a dressing table, in a locker, on a workbench, or laid on a desk. These still-lifes embrace the beautiful imperfection of lived-in spaces, showing how our watches integrate into the real lives of passionate, creative individuals.
The campaign signals our commitment to creating watches that do more than measure moments; they inspire us to make those moments count.
Urban Jürgensen Leadership Team
Kari Voutilainen, Co-CEO
Kari Voutilainen is widely regarded as one of the world’s most acclaimed watchmakers. With 11 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards to his name, he is the most awarded independent watchmaker in GPHG history. His connection with Urban Jürgensen runs deep: in the late 1990s, Peter Baumberger brought him on board, and he soon took on a pivotal role in developing and finishing the brand’s creations alongside Peter and legendary watchmaker Derek Pratt. After founding the highly successful Voutilainen brand, which he continues to lead today, Kari now returns to Urban Jürgensen. As a true watchmaking legend, he brings his unparalleled expertise and passion to shape the brand’s future, while upholding the exacting standards that have defined Urban Jürgensen since 1773.
Alex Rosenfield, Co-CEO
Alex Rosenfield brings a fresh perspective to haute horology, combining his extensive experience in fashion, media, and brand development. He offers a global vision for Urban Jürgensen’s future. Having worked in fashion, media and beauty as well as in law and finance, Alex understands how the greatest of heritage brands can evolve while staying true to their core values. His leadership aims to place Urban Jürgensen in direct dialogue with contemporary culture, making sure that the watches that honor this rich legacy are presented with joy and creativity while embracing new opportunities. Under his leadership, Urban Jürgensen explores innovative ways to share its centuries-old craftsmanship with collectors, enthusiasts, and new audiences.
For further information visit urbanjurgensen.com