Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241
The Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 marks a new chapter in the company’s history. This high-end sports watch features a distinctive guilloche dial juxtaposed with a grenage chapter ring. Its steel case and bracelet ensemble make this watch ideal for daily wear, while its styling should retain lasting eye-appeal despite changing fashions.
When a budding thespian graduates from drama school, they face a perilous future fraught with uncertainty. Unemployment is an occupational hazard. For some actors, good fortune smiles upon them and they get the role they always yearned to play. The fit between the actor and their role is perfect. Similar roles are subsequently offered and the actor, enjoying this type work, readily accepts these new parts. Without realising it, the actor has become typecast and defined by a particular genre of work.
The truly courageous actor sets aside the tried and tested, choosing to step outside their comfort zone. It is difficult to leave the comfort of what you know, enter a new world and play to a different type of audience.
Walking along the carpeted thoroughfares of Baselworld, there are several brands who offer mainstream products, designed to appeal to many audiences. Their products play a variety of roles, some better than others.
Urban Jürgensen is different, it is a brand for purists. The company has attracted many plaudits for its house style. Indeed, the brand plays one type of role very, very well.
Playing one role very, very well
The Danish-Swiss company, based in Biel / Bienne, has a rich history harking back to 1773. However, the Maison only began making wristwatches in 1981. The styling of an Urban Jürgensen has always been classical. The company’s watches are often embellished with guilloché dials, crafted on a rose-engine lathe. Alternatively, some watches feature a grenage dial, a time-consuming, lustrous granular finish.
Cases juxtapose convex and concave surfaces, cajoling light into kissing shadows. Teardrop lugs are the product of protracted creation. Thermally-blued hands, an eye in the hour hand held merely by frictional fit and a lithe minute hand with curved tip are all part of the firm’s DNA.
At the heart of an Urban Jürgensen watch is a beautifully appointed movement. Sometimes in-house, sometimes from a revered third party, but always distilled to a pure, blemish-free conclusion.
A new role
This is the Urban Jürgensen I have known and loved for several years. There is a reassuring predictability to its timepieces that has attracted nods of appreciation from the cognoscenti. Indeed, such is the widespread desire of many horophiles, demand invariably outstrips supply. Perhaps the brand could have been described as ‘typecast’, but why meddle with what works?
Therefore, I was surprised when hearing for the first time that Urban Jürgensen were to make a range of steel sports watches. However, on seeing the drawings of the watches, my anxiety was quashed. The sports models were clearly going to proffer something new, fresh and very different from the company’s previous watches.
Suddenly, the brand I thought I knew so well had chosen to enter a new segment of the watch industry and play to a very different type of audience.
Recently, the Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 was unveiled, along with its globe-trotting sibling, the Reference 5541 GMT. I intend to look at this latter watch in a separate review later, preferring to devote my attention to this ‘entry-level’ Urban Jürgensen steel sports watch.
The dial
In the 1970s, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus were launched and, quite simply, they broke the mould. Both watches were made of stainless steel. This metal was selected, not as a cheaper alternative to gold, but because the metal delivered a particular aesthetic. Indeed, at the time of launch, both of these models cost as much as competing gold watches. The Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 perpetuates the notion that a steel sports watch can be a paragon of luxury.
Again, looking back to the 1970s, both the Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe models enjoyed adoration for their distinctive dial motifs. The AP had a so-called ‘petite tapisserie’ dial while the Patek sported recessed lines running east to west. The Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 features a central dial adorned with ‘maritime wave style grains d’orge guilloche’. In this context the motif looks contemporary but it still retains a link to the brand’s classical timepieces.
The hour track is the epitome of refinement. The indexes are mirror polished and lined with SuperLuminova. The pièce de résistance is the grenage textured chapter ring. Grenage is a time-consuming process where a wet paste, consisting of silver, salt and other secret ingredients, is painted onto the dial surface to form layers. An electrochemical reaction then takes place, resulting in a pearl-like, granular finish. Urban Jürgensen has used this technique on some of its classical models, but it looks equally at home on the Reference 5241.
The Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 is offered in a choice of dial hues: ‘Charcoal Grey’, ‘Urban Blue’, and, my personal favourite, ‘Soft White’.
Thermally blued hands doff their hat to watchmaking tradition. The brand’s distinctive hour hand eye is diamond polished, evincing a brilliant gleam on its internal surface. The hour and minute hands are partly openworked. The tips of the hour and minute hands are lined with SuperLuminova aiding nocturnal legibility. The centre canons are hand riveted and diamond polished. A lithesome central seconds hand conveys meaning without the merest hint of vagueness.
At 3 o’clock, the date is proclaimed with crisp numerals. Every element of the dial is refined, well-proportioned and simple to interpret.
The case
At the epicentre of the Urban Jürgensen paradigm is a palpable rectitude. Everything is done correctly. The Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 eschews the ubiquitous 316L or 904L grades of steel, employing Medical Grade 1.4441 steel instead. This material was selected because it has about half the nickel content of 904L and proffers enhanced corrosion resistance.
The Reference 5241 has a case diameter of 41mm. Its proportions should suit a wide audience and remain untouched by changing fashions. The case is of a seven part construction. It tastefully blends satin brushed and mirror polished surfaces.
A mirror polished bezel frames the domed sapphire crystal. The height of the watch, measured at the bezel is 12.1mm, rising to 13.8mm at the centre of the domed crystal. Smooth surfaces are omnipresent, mitigating the risk of frayed shirt cuffs.
The dorsal plane of the case is fitted with a pane of sapphire crystal, granting views of the self-winding movement within.
A wonderful aspect of this watch is the exquisite bracelet. It neatly integrates with the watch head and is semi-flexible. The links are satin brushed but incorporate gleaming oval-shaped interlinks. The bracelet can be sized to suit the wearer and it is steadfastly affixed to the wrist courtesy of a double-folding butterfly clasp.
The movement
The Urban Jürgensen P5 automatic movement features 34 jewels. Twin barrels collaborate to deliver 72 hours of autonomy. The balance bridge is affixed at two points, providing greater stability.
The frequency of the balance is 21,600 VpH (3Hz). An openworked rotor harnesses the motion of the wearer’s wrist, energising both spring barrels. The rotor is adorned with the Maison’s logo in gold and incorporates a 22-carat solid gold oscillating weight.
However, beyond the aforementioned specification highlights, the P5 automatic movement is endowed with further eye-catching details. Thermally-blued screws abound. The screw sinks are polished and a bridge-mounted cartouche gleams resplendently. The bridges are adorned with Côtes de Genève rayonnantes and sport sparkling bevels. The maker’s name and the movement’s jewel count are proclaimed in blue text, adding a tasteful dose of modernity.
Closing remarks
The dial of the Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 is divine. The central guilloche section ties the watch to the Maison’s back catalogue but looks fresh and contemporary. The indexes are elegant and the grenage dial detail is exquisite. Urban Jürgensen has not abandoned its past design language, just adapted it for a new audience.
Close examination of the hour and minute hands reveals familiar elements, such as thermally-blued hands, the eye on the hour hand and the highly polished canons. However, the partially openworked hands and judicious use of SuperLuminova deliver something fresh and new.
In my opinion, the steel case is optimally sized at 41mm. Moreover, the integrated bracelet cossets the wrist wonderfully. Repeated examination with a critical finger revealed no sharp edges. The case and bracelet are refined to the nth degree.
The Urban Jürgensen P5 movement provides the convenience of automatic winding while showcasing the impressive finishing for which the Maison is renowned. Modernity does not mean the wearer has to forgo traditional craftsmanship and know-how.
By mentioning the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus, some readers will question whether the Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241 is likely to enjoy the same iconic status in the long term. In reality, I am unable to predict whether this will happen or not. However, based on its impressive array of qualities, it appears to have everything it needs to succeed.
Urban Jürgensen is very capable at making classically styled watches. It could have played it safe and continued performing this role. However, it has chosen to embrace a different genre of watch, portraying a hitherto unseen character. Like the most acclaimed actors, Urban Jürgensen has avoided being typecast revealing another facet to its character. In my opinion, the brand has delivered an Oscar-winning performance which deserves much commercial success.
Further reading
https://www.urbanjurgensen.com/
Technical specifications
- Model: Urban Jürgensen Reference 5241
- Case: Stainless steel; diameter 41mm; water resistance 12ATM (120 metres); sapphire crystal to the front and caseback
- Functions: Hours; minutes; central sweep seconds; date
- Movement: P5 movement; self-winding movement; frequency 21,600 VpH (3Hz); 34 jewels; power reserve 72 hours
- Strap: Stainless steel bracelet with double secure folding clasp
- Price: CHF 24,500 + VAT (RRP as at 5.4.2019)