Introducing: The Urban Jrgensen One Collection

March 04, 2019

Urban Jrgensen is known for their mastery of details, a distinction particularly well suited for the realm of haute horology. Grenage dials and precious metals typify the Jrgensen range, with a history of roughly 400 years transforming the Danish watch and clock making industry.?After all that time, the One collection is the first range of true sports watches in stainless steel from Urban Jrgensen. Not a single straight line is present on the seven-piece case that features satin brushed and mirror polished finishing. The Jrgensen-developed P5 movement features a subtle single bit of gold on the watch: a rotor with a Jrgensen shield in gold accompanied by 22ct solid gold weights. At 41mm, its decidedly sporty, and a 120 meter water resistance answers any questions as to whether or not the One watches can walk the walk.? The stainless bracelet is what really puts this watch in the same space as such lauded company as watches like the Royal Oak and Nautilus. Urban Jrgensen calls the bracelet's design a "double shape pointed oval construction," referring to its unusual geometry. The resulting design is definitely distinct enough to create a striking identity and it's rendered in medical-grade steel.Two models round out the line, a time-only model and a GMT model that features a sub-dial at six o'clock to display home time while the main dial reads local time. On this special version, a set of two pushers are used to jump the hours, an intuitive up/down system that avoids having to fuss with the crown. Using a 24-hr GMT sub-dial leaves no room for guessing whether its day or night.? Initial Thoughts While theres no dearth of sports watches born from a block of 316L stainless steel, its a challenge to find a top-tier sports watch thats a) available (just look at your local authorized dealer's wait list for the GMT-Master II in Oystersteel) or b) not something that everyone has (the Rolex Submariner comes to mind). Thats where the Urban Jrgensen One reference 5541 shines. Its got clout and refinement all while being somewhat stealthy about it. Since the 5541 is Urban Jrgersens first foray into proper sports watches, the silhouette of the case and the striking open hand design hasnt been ingrained in the minds eye of the collective watch world, but I think it could definitely make its way there eventually.?The brand comes from a four-century long tradition of Danish-Swiss watchmaking, and theres something about the One Collection's aesthetic that seems to take all history and neatly package it into a sporty piece of kit that fits into horological modernity nicely. Its not like Jrgensen just reached into the archive and pulled out something to re-engineer or reference. They simply couldnt. Almost all of their past watches have been made in precious metals and focused on fine executions of complications and finishings. Instead, they created something entirely new from scratch with the One. They started with a tradition of haute horology and somehow transposed enough of that into a watch could square up with the likes of prolific, instantly-recognizable sports watches. When someone enters the same ring as the Patek Nautilus or Audemars Piguet Royal Oak its worth paying attention.?This ultimately leads to an answer to the simple question of Why? What compels a maker of fine dress watches to make their mark on a segment with little to no elbow room? Because whether or not its artificial measures or actual supply and demand curves making some of the well-known models scarce, its still hard to get your hands on many of these extremely popular watches. And even if you are lucky enough to find some of these, theres a certain type of collector that doesnt want to join the club of which many are already a part.?The One collection is offering a different type of alternative. The Basics Brand: Urban JrgensenModel: One CollectionReference Number: 5241; 5541 GMTDiameter: 41mmThickness: 13.8mmCase Material: Stainless steelDial Color: Soft White, Charcoal Grey and Urban BlueWater Resistance: 120 metersStrap/Bracelet: Stainless steel bracelet The Movement Caliber: Caliber P5Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds (plus 24-hour GMT on the special model)Diameter: 32mmThickness: 6.1mm time-only; 6.6mm GMTPower Reserve: 72 hoursWinding: AutomaticFrequency: 3 Hz (21,600 vph)Jewels: 34? Pricing & Availability Price: Not yet announcedAvailability: Post Baselworld 2019For more click here.