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"The Oval" by Derek Pratt & Kari Voutilainen
Inspired by an oval pocket watch made by Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), the English watchmaker Derek Pratt (1938-2009) created his own oval pocket watch.
Featuring a detent escapement, a tourbillon with integrated constant force mechanism, as well as a thermometer, a power reserve display and a moon phase, it is his masterpiece.
He started working on it in 1982. In 1985, financial constraints led him to sell the watch in its raw state to Peter Baumberger (1939-2010), who had acquired the Urban Jürgensen brand in 1981: thus the Urban Jürgensen name on the dial and movement.
He worked on this watch until 2004, making absolutely everything himself and by hand (including the oval crystal), when, suffering from cancer, he became too weak to continue. Peter Baumberger therefore asked his permission to entrust Kari Voutilainen with the finishing of the watch, the ébauche of which was fully completed.
In 2005, Peter Baumberger sold the watch to Dr Helmut Crott, who, after twenty years of ownership decided to part with it last year: The Oval was sold as Lot 40 at the Phillips Auction "Reloaded: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking 1980-1999" on November 28, 2024.
Let's have a look.
Best, Emmanuel
A/ THE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION: the OVAL POCKET WATCH n° 1682/4761 by ABRAHAM-LOUIS BREGUET featuring a THERMOMETER
In an article published in the issue of Horological Journal published in April 1993, Derek Pratt explained:
“As a child I had been fascinated by oval tins. My own interest in oval watches stems right back to those examples, but on seeing the oval Breguet N°1682/4761 in the little book by Claude Breguet, A. L. Breguet, Horloger, I felt positively inspired and resolved to make an oval watch myself… The watch was mostly realised as an homage to some of the most preeminent watchmakers of all time, like Abraham-Louis Breguet, John Arnold, and Professor Alfred Helwig.”
First made in 1822 for Count Panin, this Breguet watch has been owned by famous polish-born American pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982):
credit: sotheby’s & wikipedia (Rubinstein)
credit: sotheby’s & wikipedia (Rubinstein)
B/ "THE OVAL" by DEREK PRATT & KARI VOUTILAINEN
1/ THE WATCH FACE
a) GLOBAL VIEW
The highly legible indications include:
- Central hours/minutes hands
- Large subseconds at 6 o’clock
- Power reserve indicator on the upper left part of the dial
- Thermometer on the upper right section
- Moonphase display at noon
b) CLOSE UPS
2/ THE MOVEMENT
a) GLOBAL VIEW
Out of the case and with the Tourbillon removed:
b) CLOSE UPS
THE BARREL
The winding square (the socket that accepts the key for winding the watch):
The cone for the power reserve indicator:
THE CENTRAL MINUTE-WHEEL BRIDGE & PLATE ENGRAVINGS
THE TOURBILLON WITH INTEGRATED REMONTOIR
UNDER THE DIAL
Here, the dial, tourbillon cage and moon phase disk have been removed.
Upper section: large third wheel of the gear train and mounting holes of the lantern bearing of flying tourbillon
Center section: motion works.
Lower section: mainspring barrel’s ratchet wheel with integrated Maltese stop work, intermediate gears for winding, as well as power-reserve gears on the right of the barrel, and bimetallic spring of the thermometer on the lower left.
THE ÉBAUCHE BEFORE VOUTILAINEN'S FINISHING
3/ THE CASES OF THE WATCH & THE WATCH IN ITS BOX WITH CHAIN AND WINDING KEY
After the original silver case made by Derek Pratt, a platinum one and a rose gold one were made between 2005 and 2006 by Bruno Affolter, a case maker in La Chaux-de-Fonds now known as Les Artisans Boîtiers (and a sister company of Parmigiani).
4/ DEREK PRATT & HIS BUSINESS CARD (adorned with a drawing of The Oval)
5/ PETER BAUMBERGER WITH THE OVAL
credit to all photos above: Sjx, @watchcollector7 (first global view of watch face & movement with watch held in the hand) & Phillips (only for watch in its box, business card & Peter Baumberger)
6/ LINKS FOR IN-DEPTH READING
- In-Depth: The Unique and Magical Oval Tourbillon Watch by Derek Pratt by Dr Helmut Crott on Sjx
- Hands On: Urban Jürgensen and Derek Pratt Oval Pocket Watch by JX Su on Sjx
Interview with Dr Helmut Crott by Marc André Deschoux
"The Oval" by Derek Pratt & Kari Voutilainen
Inspired by an oval pocket watch made by Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), the English watchmaker Derek Pratt (1938-2009) created his own oval pocket watch . Featuring a detent escapement , a tourbillon with integrated constant force mechanism , as well ...
Sorry for the overload!
When I dive deep into a topic which I find quite fascinating and for which there are so many good photos, I find it hard to restrain myself. Thanks for looking. Best, Emmanuel
Great post!
I’ve seen the video and amazed by the story of this art work. This is horology at the highest level, front and back equally impressive. What I like most is the respect for indications on the dial, all the functions being displayed without cutting or missi...
Thank you very much for the kind words.
I completely agree with you: great attention to details and wonderful display of the different elements. Best, Emmanuel
The dates on the Breguet website suggest that it might be the other way around.
The oval pocket watch n° 1682 dates from 1822, whereas Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, is said to have purchased 34 clocks between 1808 and 1814. And the Reine de Naples collection is presented as follows by the website: "This collection is a free interp...
Check the following thread:
you will see that this motto dates back to the 1700s and was used by several watchmakers: www.watchprosite.com / So, it seems to be the other way around: it's Journe who has chosen a motto used before him by several watchmakers, including Derek Pr...
I LOVe the gold hands on the silver-tone case...
...this type of color combo is a dream for me...
Thanks for looking and chiming in!
It's a fascinating watch indeed. Have a great weekend. Best, Emmanuel
I’m speechless in front of this beauty ! 😍😍😍
And your article is as usual so well documented! 👍👌👌 Merci Emmanuel for taking the time to gather all this information, I can easily imagine it took you a long time (even if you enjoyed it I’m sure). When you go deep, you go deep to cover a subject and we...
Thank you so much for your very kind words, Mike.
Yes, these extensive threads take a lot of time, but I learn a lot while doing them and, hopefully, they can serve as a useful reference point. Have a great weekend and thanks again! Best, Emmanuel