Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition, Stainless Steel

The Big 8 features an oversized 40mm stainless steel case and the brand’s distinctive teardrop lugs and convex bezel. Forged separately from the case, the lugs are heat-treated, hand-polished and individually soldered into place using traditional horological techniques, with no visible soldering line.

The dial, a classic Urban Jürgensen affair, with engine-turned guilloché that requires up to 700 operations and two days of hand craftsmanship to finish. It is forged from a single piece of solid silver, with the centre of the matte dial featuring a Clous de Paris motif, instead of the more traditional guilloché usually found on the Big 8. The subsidiary seconds register wears guilloché panier for contrast. The racing green is then added through physical vapor deposition (or PVD) over the course of three days. The result is a dial that toys with light, going from dark green to teal at different times of the day, with the shade reminiscent of a 1920s' Bentley racing Le Mans or a 1950s' Aston Martin.

Offering contrast and legibility, the dial further features a circular brushed chapter ring of Roman numerals and a pearled outer-minute track. The chapter around the subsidiary seconds register is also similarly brushed. For the sake of visual cleanliness, the date window usually found in the register is closed.

The handmade, solid white gold 'observatoire' Urban Jürgensen hands are turned on a precision lathe, thermally blued to a navy unique to the brand. The hands, reminiscent of early 18th and 19th-century marine chronometers made by the brand, are mirror-polished, with the “eye” of the hour hand featuring a solid gold insert, concentrically diamond polished and friction fit. Visible through a display caseback is the upgraded 31 jewel self-winding calibre FP 1160 from F. Piguet, beautifully finished and hand decorated. It features a 21k gold rotor, signed with the brand’s mark. It features a Swiss lever escapement design of the modified F. Piguet calibre that 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 aiding timekeeping. The twin barrel movement offers a power-reserve of 48 hours.

Each Big 8 ‘London Edition’ watch is individually numbered on the caseback. The watch comes as a complete set, with box and papers.

Closer look

This Urban Jürgensen Big 8 London Edition is in very good condition overall. The case and lugs show virtually no signs of imperfection, with the watch likely worn on only a handful of occasions. The engravings and etchings on the case back are crisp and well defined. The watch comes with a two-year warranty from A Collected Man, alongside a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.