Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition (Price, Pictures and Specifications)
This Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition, exclusively retailed through A Collected Man, is distinguished by its custom-made, racing green dial, closed date aperture and stainless-steel case. Limited to 10 pieces, they will donate all profits from the sale to the Wellcome Trust. Amidst the global pandemic taking place, we hope to contribute positively in a small way, by supporting the Wellcome in their efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to the disease.
A strong foundation
Urban Jürgensen have a rich and varied history, dating back to the late 18th Century. The manufactures namesake, Urban Jürgensen (1776-1830), along with his father Jürgen Jürgensen, have long been credited with introducing the watch industry to Denmark. Shortly after the birth of his son in 1776, Jürgen Jürgensen moved to Le Locle in Switzerland to work with Jacques-Frédéric Houriet, laying the foundations for a Danish-Swiss connection which still exists over 240 years later.
In 1985, the brand was acquired by Peter Baumberger, who together with master English horologist Derek Pratt, set about carrying forward a legacy of elegant and complicated timepieces, whilst pioneering concepts of performance, stability and movement aesthetics. Though the brand has since changed ownership and focus, they continue to champion the classic aesthetics introduced during this period.
The dial builds on the classic Urban Jürgensen aesthetic, with a twist. It is executed in British racing green, which takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. Reminiscent of a 1920s Bentleys from Le Mans or a 1950s Aston Martin sports car, the deep green colour has become unmistakeable today.
The hand-finished, engine-turned guilloché dial requires up to 700 operations and two full days of hand craftsmanship to complete. Manufactured from one piece of solid silver, the racing green colour is added thanks to a 3-day colouring process through Physical Vapor Deposition (or PVD). The centre section of the dial is finished with a Clous de Paris pattern, instead of the more traditional guilloché usually found on the Urban Jürgensen Big 8. This fine pattern creates a surface “shimmering” effect, owing to a selection of carefully considered grain sizes and geometrical patterns.
In stark contrast to the dark green portions, the dial further features a circular brushed chapter ring, with Roman numerals and a pearled outer-minute track. The font of the Roman numerals has been updated to a curved, slightly more contemporary, design, concealing the 6’clock numeral completely. The small seconds indication is also executed in racing green, with a Guilloché Panier finishing applied. For the sake of simplicity, the date window (usually placed at within the subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock) has been closed.
The handmade, solid white gold “Observatoire” Urban Jürgensen hands are turned on a precision lathe, thermally blued (to Urban Jürgensen’s unique navy colour) and mirror-polished, with the arms of the hands carefully riveted in place, creating a unique visual effect reminiscent of early 18th and 19th century marine chronometers made by Urban Jürgensen. The “eye” of the hour hand is a solid gold insert, concentrically diamond polished and friction fit.
The Urban Jürgensen Big 8 features an oversized 40 mm stainless steel case and the brand’s distinctive teardrop lugs and convex bezel. Forged separately from the case, the classic teardrop lugs are carefully heat-treated, hand-polished and individually soldered into place using mid-century horological methods, with no visible soldering line.
The upgraded F. Piguet 1160 movement of Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition
The upgraded Caliber FP 1160, from F. Piguet (now Manufacture Blancpain) is expertly finished and elaborately hand-decorated, featuring a 21k gold Guilloché rotor, signed with the Urban Jürgensen crest. This automatically wound movement is adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism and 5 positions, with 31 working jewels.
The “Swiss Lever” escapement design of the modified F. Piguet 1160 movement allows the balance wheel to be engaged with the mechanism only during the split-second it swings through its centre position, reducing overall friction and enabling far superior timekeeping ability. The FP 1160 movement is elegantly discrete, at 5.20mm x 32mm, with two barrels and a power-reserve of 48 hours.
The Set
· A limited edition of 10 pieces, each of the brand new Big 8 ‘London Edition’ watches are numbered on the caseback, indicating their order in the production run. They all come as a complete set, with box and papers, and are fitted with a custom-made brown nubuck strap and an Urban Jürgensen stainless steel tang buckle.
· A Collected Man will be donating all profits from the sale of these 10 pieces to Wellcome Trust, in their efforts to fund testing, treatment and vaccine development.
· A Collected Man is an authorised UK retailer for Urban Jürgensen.
Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition
Technical specifications:
· Brand:Urban Jürgensen
· Model:Big 8 - London Limited Edition of 10 pieces
· Movement: mechanical self-winding modified FP 1160
· Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
· Power reserve: 48 hours
· Functions: time-only - hours, minutes, sub-seconds
· Features: British racing green guilloché dial, display back, blue steel Observatoire hands
· Case: 40 mm stainless steel
· Crystal: sapphire front and back
· Strap: custom-made curved Bordeaux and Carcassonne nubuck straps with stainless steel UJ buckle
· Lug/buckle width: 20/16mm
The price for the Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition is £13,500.
