SJX Watches
In-Depth: The Tourbillon Pocket Watches of Urban Jürgensen and Derek Pratt
Originally an 18th century Danish brand, Urban Jürgensen & Sønner (UJS) was resurrected in 1981 by Peter Baumberger (1939-2010), an antique watch dealer turned watchmaker. While the brand’s best-known timepieces were elegantly-styled wristwatches with teardrop lugs, its greatest technical achievements were pocket watches, all of which were built by Derek Pratt (1938-2009), a deeply talented English watchmaker who was a contemporary of George Daniels. As was typical of the era when pocket watches were the preeminent genre of watch collecting – and the tourbillon was the ultimate complication – Pratt’s best work for UJS were his tourbillon pocket watches. Pratt not only built the movements, but also fabricated some of the dials that were decorated in exceptional guilloche. Peter Baumberger. Photo – Dr Helmut Crott The oval pocket watch The pièce de résistance in Pratt’s series of tourbillon pocket watches is no doubt the Ref. 1 “Hommage”, an oval pocket watch featuring a tourbillon with an integrated remontoir d’egalite. Writing in Derek Pratt – Watchmaker, a book dedicated to the watchmaker’s life and works, watch expert and auctioneer Dr Helmut Crott explained the Ref. 1 was originally conceived as a series of five watches for an Asian collector in the late 1980s. But after the first watch was complete, the client cancelled the rest of the order, making it a “financial disaster for Peter [Baumberger]” according to Dr Crott, , a longtime f...
