Urban Jürgensen 1140L PT Blue, Platinum

The eponymous brand was founded in 1773 in Copenhagen by Urban Jürgensen himself, a precocious watchmaker who was previously an apprentice to Abraham-Louis Breguet, Ferdinand Berthoud, and John Arnold. Passing through several hands over the last two hundred years, the modern Jürgensen brand was acquired by Peter Baumberger in 1979, with master watchmaker Derek Pratt at the helm.

The pair then set about carrying forward a legacy of elegant and complicated timepieces, whilst pioneering concepts of performance, stability, and movement aesthetics. Despite being amongst the most accomplished independent watchmakers of the last century, Pratt remains largely unrecognised within the field.

While this Urban Jürgensen 1140L PT Blue was made as part of the modern era of the manufacture, after Pratt’s departure from the brand, the watch is no less impressive, with a hand-finished guilloché dial in a striking shade of blue unique to Urban Jürgensen. The dial requires up to 700 operations and two full days of hand craftsmanship to complete. Manufactured from one piece of solid silver, the blue colour is slowly added by a three-day colouring process through Physical Vapor Deposition.

Part of a limited edition of 30 pieces, the watch is also fitted with an in-house P4 movement, which is decorated as exquisitely as the dial, with Cotes de Geneve and sharply bevelled edges. It manages to combine classic and contemporary details, making it both refined and versatile, and fit for daily wear.

Closer look

This Urban Jürgensen 1140L PT is in excellent condition overall, with a few superficial marks throughout consistent with minimal wear. The watch comes with a two-year warranty from A Collected Man, alongside a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.