Urban Jürgensen Reference 3 N°015 – the "Reference 3 Model" of the official catalogue

The “Reference 3 Model” used by Peter Baumberger and Derek Pratt for the official Urban Jürgensen catalogue is this N°015 in yellow gold, which sets it apart from other examples of the reference. It was also never worn, and comes with its box, outer packaging, original certificate, booklet, original catalogue and original price list from 2003.

The watch

When the Reference 3 was presented in the 1990s, Urban Jürgensen was guided by Peter Baumberger, who developed the collections together with Derek Pratt. Pratt devised the up/down mechanism of the Reference 3. It took almost two years of research, numerous technical drawings and three dozen additional parts to fit into the ultra-thin (2.4 mm) Frédérique Piguet base movement. The entire modification for the perpetual calendar indication was developed and produced in-house at the Urban Jürgensen atelier.

Finishing the guilloché dial takes more than 700 operations and two days of work. The moon display requires over 20 operations to produce the blued steel background with inserted gold moon discs and stars, which are punched in one by one. The curved springs and levers of the perpetual calendar mechanism demand considerable effort: each steel surface is grained, and the edges are angled and polished. The tear-drop lugs are individually forged and soldered by hand to the case. The level of finishing is of the very highest standard.

Specifications

Calibre

• Base automatic calibre FP71, 18,000 vph, modified in-house by Derek Pratt
• Perpetual calendar mechanism and power reserve indication developed by Derek Pratt
• Hand-guilloché 21k gold rotor
• 40 jewels, 2.4 mm high

Case

• 18k rose gold, 38 mm diameter
• Each lug forged and welded to the case
• Solid caseback

Dial

• Hand-guilloché by Derek Pratt, N°015

Highlights

• “Reference 3 Model” in the official Urban Jürgensen catalogue
• NOS, never worn, full set

From the catalogue