Reference 5, Platinum

Urban Jürgensen & Sønner’s Reference 5 was the brand’s first time-only wristwatch. The Ref. 5 continued the brand’s trend of limited production with only 150 examples evenly distributed between yellow gold, pink gold, and this platinum. Its relatively simple two-hand design maintains clear ties to the brand’s identity, a silver dial with intricate hand guilloché and roman numerals, and a beautifully finished ebauché housed within its stepped lugged case with soldered teardrop lugs. The reference brought in classic proportions to the range, 35mm and just 7mm thick, and offered a non-complicated entry point to Urban Jürgensen’s range.

Where most watchmakers scrambled to integrate battery powered movements into their range, Peter Baumberger saw the quartz crisis as not only a phase soon to pass, but a unique opportunity. He purchased the rights to the Urban Jürgensen & Sønner name, along with heavily discounted machinery deemed obsolete by most in the industry, and partnered with English watchmaker Derek Pratt to re-launch the brand as a champion of traditional watchmaking. 

The time-only Ref. 5 was produced from the early 1990s to the early 2000s in yellow gold, pink gold, and platinum. All featured Observatoire handsets. The bevelled and mirror-polished inner aperture edge of the hour hand, along with the rounded profile of the both hour and minute hands are hand finished. On Urban Jürgensen’s previous complicated references subdials were utilized as an opportunity to showcase contrasting guilloché patterns, here the dial’s simplicity demonstrates brilliance in the basics. The same guilloché pattern is present horizontally in the dial center and radially around its outer edge. The brushed hour and minute tracks are emphasized by a sauté piqué guilloché pattern at each intersection. It was the first reference since the Ref. 1 to omit the serial number placard under the dial signature. Each solid silver dial blank was hand turned by Pratt himself. 

At release, platinum variants commanded an approximately 30% premium over gold. Production numbers were equal across all case metals, limiting each to only 50. Where yellow and pink gold examples featured matching metal handsets, platinum cased options were the only variant to feature a contrasting handset made of yellow gold. This unique contrast between case and handset, along with it being the only pale metal case within the reference, make the platinum variant visually distinct. All examples housed an automatic Frédéric Piguet ebauché featuring beautiful finishing, including barleycorn-pattern engraving on the gold rotor. This is the same base movement used in Urban Jürgensen's References 2 through 4, though without the Lemania calendar module.

While it is a simplified design, both in terms of complication and dial aesthetics, the Ref. 5 highlights the English style of Pratt’s watchmaking. The two-hand design places all emphasis on his masterfully hand turned dial. The watches of the Baumberger-Pratt era have become highly collectible not only due to their limited production and beautiful handcraft, but also out of appreciation for the vision of the men who created them. The Reference 5, though understated, is a fantastic representation of this beloved era of Urban Jürgensen.

This Reference 5 presents in good overall condition. The dial and hands shows no signs of wear or patina. The stepped case has moderate wear with some heavier scratches and marks, though its geometry is full. The automatic calibre FP 71 is running within spec. on our timing equipment. The watch comes with its full set, to include original strap and pin-buckle, box, and papers. The original papers have a small tear on one edge.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.