JLC.thomsen's review of the Urban Jürgensen One Ref. 5541 offers a deep dive into a watch that, while initially subtle, reveals layers of horological artistry and thoughtful design. His four-week on-wrist impressions provide invaluable insights into the nuances of this integrated sports watch, particularly its unique aesthetic and functional considerations. This piece is essential for understanding how a modern independent watchmaker interprets classic design principles for the contemporary collector.
I just got this fairly newly released Urban Jürgensen One-It was introduced last year at Baselworld, and there was some unexpected waiting time to get to the first batch of UJ Ones delivered to UJ's historical country of origin, Denmark.
From my first encounter with the announcement and pictures of this watch I was ready to go for it; at least try it on and see it in the metal. I did sign up with the AD to be the first to see them when they arrived a bit ahead of time in December.A white dialled with blue hand and this "Urban Blue"-The GMT was not to be had yet but I was looking for a time only-However you want to consider that the GMT movement can still be contained in the same case, which is a big advantage.
I wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but already at the first encounter something steady and round was growing in the back of my mind. The UJ One is like a piece of Beethoven or a poem of Goethe where you scratch the surface and struggle to understand and then you get it bit by bit, and every time there is more value added to it-new perspectives, small details that complement the whole. And you smile and can’t get it out of your head.
It's got a super classic vibe with the eye on the hour hand and the guilloche sector dial, and the case that consist of 7 parts almost gives allusions to a futuristic distopic transformer and you are waiting for it to anytime reorganise itself as a different robotic creature-285 years of watchmaking moving into the 2020’s
Case and bracelet:Transformer-like robotic elements-seen from the back
Dial:
Beautiful-Super serene-it breathes wisdom, quietness and patience and has a lot of UJ DNA to offer-Guilloche is great yet subtle-I love the blue mat colour-makes the guilloche feel like a thick woven carpet.
Great mat colour "Urban Blue" and soft guilloche feel
Being a sports watch it has a good lumen, for the exception of the hour hand, which I consider a bit of a flaw-I have been struggling to see what time it was in the dark-You know it's 20 passed something, which is a bit of scarce information-
I am hoping they will find a fix for that in Bienne-but you also don't want to compromise with the diamond cut, hand polished eye-I'm sure they spent a lot of time thinking about exactly that, but the result is disappointing from a functionality point of view-A sports watch just has to be functional- Especially when you think that Baumberger was historically involved in the lumen industry this is something that hopefully will be corrected so that you can actually read the time in the dark-
Case and bracelet
Great finish on all parts of the case and bracelet-
The 7 piece case and the way the lugs integrate with the bracelet is stunning and brings a lot of new thinking into the integrated sports segment-details, perfection, and a perfect fit on the wrist-
I like to see the watch from the side, which is actually the angle most people will see the watch from when not reading the time-The bracelet is something of it's own and as I would say about the 15202 bracelet, looks as it's made by God-Medical grade steel, super clean and well finished-
With a 13,8 mm thickness, it’s not a thin watch, but it wears a lot thinner I would say-
and then you find this successions of round shapes on top and beside and overlapping each other-making it a tribute to the perfect circle somehow-can’t find a better way to say it-
Movement
It's the caliber P5 executed to the highest horological finish and specs with anglage on all possible parts-nothing has been spared here, blued screws and giant jewels-sunburst côtes de Genève cantering around the double hung balance spring-skeleton rotor with golden edges-
For me, apart from it’s very own character in design this is where this sports watch stands out from the crowd-from the other luxury sports watches-None of the usual suspects in this category can present such a finish on their sport watches' movement-It is a nice feeling to understand that this watch is fairly easy to order, protected from the current price bubble. A watch appreciated by the few and hand made by a few people that did not compromise on this hand finished piece.
Superlative finishing, yet sturdy (we hope), fairly large movement and in a watch case with an overall water resistance to 120 meters-
Well done Urban Jürgensen!
This is where the UJ One leaves the peloton and sets the pace... (This picture: Courtesy of Urban Jürgensen)
