Like all Urban Jürgensen timepieces, the new Reference 1140 L PT Blue exhibits the finest qualities of a luxury Swiss Made timepiece on the inside and out. Its platinum case has been hand turned from solid blocks of the precious metal and consists of three parts: the case middle, to which the teardrop-shaped lugs are soldered; the bezel, which encloses the domed sapphire crystal; and the screw-in case back, which includes an aperture housing a flat sapphire crystal through which the movement can be viewed.
The dial, with its sumptuous blue sheen, has a solid silver base with a circular brushed chapter ring and a hand engine-turned central section, plus a separate small seconds counter at 6 o’clock, which feature the “barley corn” and “checkerboard” engine-turned patterns. The circumference is punctuated by discreet dots to mark out the minutes between two hand engine-turned filets (threads). The elegantly rounded Arabic numerals in white gold are hand polished and applied by hand. Their typography is the same as that of the Urban Jürgensen timepieces of the 1930s.
The hour hand, with its distinctive eye, is the most characteristic exterior signature on the Urban Jürgensen 1140 L PT Blue. Like all the hands in the current Urban Jürgensen collection, it is made entirely by hand, from solid white gold, with a press-fitted eye that is held in place solely by the accuracy of its fit. This hand has been a feature of the Urban Jürgensen collection since the Reference 2, which was launched in the 1990s.
Inside beats the Urban Jürgensen P4 calibre, which is manually wound and offers a power reserve of 72 hours thanks to twin mainspring barrels. The Swiss lever escapement movement has been adjusted for temperature and isochronism in five positions and features a stop-second mechanism to assist with time setting. Its high-end finishing includes sun-ray Côtes de Genève on the mainplate, mirror-polished jewel sinks and blued-steel screws. The high level of finishing can be admired through the transparent sapphire crystal case back, which also shows off the distinctive twin-arm bridge over the large screw balance, which oscillates at a frequency of 3Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour).
The Urban Jürgensen 1140 L PT Blue is a limited edition of just 30 watches.
