Historic Urban Jürgensen Relaunches Under Kari Voutilainen

Urban Jürgensen is back. Not that it ever fully went away since its founding in 1773. But it's now being relaunched under new ownership — and by none other than one of the very few people who could do its storied name justice: celebrated independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. WatchTime joined the brand in Los Angeles for the official announcement.

There was no secret that the venture had been in the works for years. What this moment does mark, however, is the unveiling of the first timepieces from the new Urban Jürgensen.

The brand has a history that spans over 250 years since the watchmaker Urban Jürgensen's father Jürgen Jürgensen applied to the watchmaking guild in Copenhagen. Urban was a contemporary and student of horological luminaries like Abraham-Louis Breguet and John Arnold, built marine chronometers and was Royal Clockmaker to the Danish court, among other accomplishments.

We'll go deeper into the Urban Jürgensen story in the next issue of WatchTime magazine, but suffice it to say that his has been a revered name for watchmakers over the centuries.

Voutilainen was involved in the brand for a formative part of his earlier career after it was relaunched by Peter Baumberger and Derek Pratt around 1979 following what the current brand calls "dark years." Now, he's returned to keep its legacy alive as Co-CEO alongside Alex Rosenfield. They presented three novelties to mark the occasion.

Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 Anniversary Watch

The UJ-1 is the halo piece of the launch. Based on the Urban Jürgensen Pratt Oval Pocket Watch made by Derek Pratt (which auctioned for $4.2m in 2024), it's been miniaturized to be worn on the wrist — and rendered round rather than oval.

It's also the most stylisically traditional of the new models, at least when viewed from the dial side. It features a guilloché dial ringed by Roman numerals (though, with a zero at 12 o'clock) with central hours and minutes, an oversized seconds subdial symmetrically placed at 6 o'clock, and a power reserve (47 hours) indicator at the top of the dial.

Around back, however, is where the party is. It's where you'll find a view of the movement which features a tourbillon and remontoir d’égalité constant-force mechanism. Its dead-beat seconds complication means that the seconds hand ticks forward every second rather than sweeping. It also features the kind of stunning design and finishing for which Voutilainen is renowned. Just as with the dial and case, every finish is hand executed and worth inspecting for hours under a loupe.

Measuring half a millimeter wider than the other two models at 39.5mm, it’s 12.2mm thick and comes in three variants of platinum case and silver dial (UJ-1-PT-S-001) platinum case and gray dial (UJ-1-PT-G-001) and rose gold case with a silver dial (UJ-1-RG-S-001). Each is limited to 25 examples and priced CHF 368,000.

Urban Jürgensen UJ-2

The UJ-2 represents the brand's vision for its future. That's because it features a functionally simple movement with three-hand time telling and a power reserve indicator — which will provide the base for more complications. One of its signature characteristics is a "double wheel natural escapement." This combines a special (and technically challenging) type of escapement with a feature Voutilainen has previously employed: the double balance wheel.

Kari Voutilainen himself explains it: "This system delivers a direct impulse to the balance through an impulse roller, achieving up to 30% more power efficiency than a traditional Swiss lever escapement while enhancing stability and longevity. The double wheel, featuring an overcoil and Grossmann inner curve, ensures a smoother energy transfer from the gear train to the hands. As technical as it sounds, the outcome is both beautiful and practical."

Featuring a similar mix of finishes as the UJ-1 from its dial through its movement, the UJ-2 is visually distinct right away thanks to its oversized seconds subdial positioned asymmetrically at 5 o'clock and overlapping the main dial's hour and minute ring. It's a feature we'll expect to distinguish watches from the brand going forward, alongside the power reserve (52 hours) indicator at 12 o'clock.

It comes in four variants with a platinum or rose gold case (39mm wide and 10.9mm thick) and dial options of blue or light silver, and each is priced at CHF 105,000.

Urban Jürgensen UJ-3

The UJ-3 shows the first example of how the UJ-2's architecture can be built upon. And the brand didn't simply throw on a GMT hand or the like. No, it went full perpetual calendar.

You'll note once again the base movement's asymmetric layout, but here the seconds subdial is combined with a date display. You've then got the day of the week and month in apertures above 9 and 3 o'clock, respectively, and the power reserve (still 52 hours, despite the added complexity) indicator at 12. The leap year display is visible through the caseback.

Then, there's that moonphase display at 8 o'clock which gets special mention. The movement was developed in collaboration (Voutilainen is open and energetic about working with other brands) with Andreas Strehler. Strehler's moonphase complication only needs to be adjust every 14,000 years (theoretically, of course), and it's the first time for it to be incorporated into a serially produced watch.

The UJ-3 is available in a platinum or rose gold case (39mm by 13.9mm), each with a black dial and each costing CHF 168,000.

To learn more, visit Urban Jürgensen, here.