Reference 2340

Inspiration

The Urban Jürgensen 2340 WG watch was inspired by the centuries of classic fine watchmaking using grenage dial techniques, and with a desire to create a contemporary piece that combined old handcrafted techniques with a subtle modern approach to dial layout and invoking a level of simplicity that almost disguises the difficulties in execution. All dial indications are done by engraving, with hand filled lacquer that is manually flat polished before the dial is finished by hand grenage. This makes every dial unique, as the grenage process mandates finishing one dial at a time to avoid contamination and oxidation of the silver grenage powder mix. Lastly the use of “Corne de Vache” inspired lugs brings the piece a distinct contemporary but still classic form, elevating the final result to an understated but clearly defined level of excellence.

Description of the watch

Case:  40mm case with a height of 11.04 mm .750 White Gold made in 3 pieces with convex middle case and individually soldered “Corne de Vache” lugs. Concave bezel, domed sapphire crystal and screw back with flat sapphire crystal. Water-resistant to 30m.

Dial: The Urban Jürgensen dial combines meticulous traditional hand craft work with advanced techniques of high grade modern dial making. Created as a one-piece solid silver, the Reference 2340 WG dial is 32.50mm in diameter and 0.50mm thick. A final cut solid fine silver dial is engraved with the selected indexes, numerals and texts. The ultra-shallow engravings are hand filled with a lacquer, and the surplus hardened material then polished off by use of increasingly fine diamond paper. The dial grenage layer is then built by manually treating and brushing a secret mix of silver powder, salt and other ingredients on to the blank silver dial surface. By electro chemical process the dial face builds up with pearled effect a unique silvered surface with incredible depth and granularity. The dial surface is achieved by a process that is entirely hand made. This ensures every dial is unique, and every watch will therefore have its own personality and character.

Moondisc: The Urban Jürgensen Moon Disc is handcrafted from a solid steel disc, in which recesses for the stars have been hand punched into the steel. The star cavities are filled with pure gold in powder form and melted into place to form a solid gold inlay. After careful graining and mirror polishing, the disc is thermally blued to the specific Urban Jürgensen blue color. Finally two solid gold moon discs with mirror polished surfaces are press-fitted into corresponding holes in the disc to complete the dual image of two sets of moons with stars. It takes more than 20 different operations to create the Urban Jürgensen moon disc, and the result is a tiny wonder of classic workmanship which is rarely found in timepieces today.

Hands: The diamond-finished hands that require numerous hours of fine workmanship are another key feature of Urban Jürgensen timepieces. The eye of the hour hand is a concentrically polished solid gold insert, held in place by the sheer accuracy of the fit. The hands are polished to a perfect mirror gloss, and thermally blued afterwards.