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Curtis for David Lou
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VdJ 2003 - Day Two (p.m.) - Urban Jurgensen & Sonner

Leaving Haldimann Horology we follow Thomas Prescher to Urban Jurgensen & Sonner located in Biel/Bienne, about an hour northwest (slightly north mostly west) of Thun, in an unassuming residential area we find one of several small UJS workshop and our host, owner Peter Baumberger.

Urban Jurgensen is one of the great horological names whose marine and pocket chronometers were equal, if not superior, to others of his time. Born in 1776 into a watchmaking family, Urban had all of the advantages one could want if a horological career is desired. His father, Jurgen, apprenticed for seven years in Copenhagen and then made his way to France and Switzerland where he worked with Pierre Le Roy, Ferdinand Berthoud and met with Breguet. In Switzerland he worked with Houriet and got on so well with him they struck up a relationship that would connect Switzerland and Copenhagen for many generations. Young Urban benefited by learning under the feet of his father and then through family connections he spent several years traveling and studying with Berthoud, Breguet, Houriet and John Arnold.

Urban married the daughter of Houriet strengthening the Swiss- Denmark ties, which carried on through his business and life, passed on to his sons, including Jules Jurgensen, with the business staying family controled until 1886. Several different owners and stories would carry the brand, primarily stagnant, until 1981 when Peter Baumberger bought and revived the Urban Jurgensen & Sonner brand.

Mr. Baumberger, a trained watchmaker, collector and authority on the Jurgensen family and watches, is a fit and pleasant natured man in his 60?s (I think). Speaking perfect English, he kindly welcomed us to the workshop and began to discuss what they do at UJS. They offer high grade wristwatches and hand made pocket in small numbers, with little commercial presence, to the astute collector (my words, not his). The wristwatches are based on F. Piguet movements and hand finished in the UJS workshops. The dials, hands and cases are made by Mr. Baumberger himself. The pocket watches are either finished ebauches from some of the greatest names in watchmaking history (Victorin Piguet [a personal favorite of mine] and Goy-Golay, for example) that were part of the UJS workshop and stock when Mr. Baumberger purchased the company, or completely original in construction and fabrication (movement, dial, hands and case) pockets by Master watchmaker Derek Pratt.

The workshop has two rooms, one with a large, vintage jewelers table, two jig borers, Schaublin lathes, drill press and a rose engine; the second room has several benches for assembly, finishing, testing and other assorted tasks. The cases, dials and hands for the wristwatches are made in this workshop.

We were then treated to one-on-one time with some of the UJS collection, which were being tested and prepared to ship to the purchasers. In addition to seeing many of their wristwatches, Mr. Baumberger had an original Derek Pratt pocket watch to show, which still makes me drool (I am a pocket watch guy and a HUGE Pratt fan).

After an 1hr to 1 1/4 hr, we follwed Mr. Baumberger to a nearby cafe for some afternoon drinks. Some had coffee, but most had Sangria. We chatted there for close to an hour and then said our goodbyes. While I think Mr. Baumberger would have gladly continued our visit, we still had one more stop to make.

For those interested click Here for the UJS website.

Enjoy the pictures!

Please stay tuned for VdJ 2003 - Day Two (p.m. - p.m.) - Thomas Prescher

Cheers,

Curtis