Our first live auctions of fall 2024 season, PHILLIPS RELOADED: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking, 1980-1999, and the Geneva Watch Auction: XX, take place on November 8, 9, and 10, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47, in central Geneva. The auctions include more than 195 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think they're some of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sales over the next month, including the watches highlighted in this article.
– By Dr. Helmut Crott
Lead image: Derek, his wife, and Peter with their children at a summer barbecue in the mid-1970s.
Last year, the legendary Jürgensen watchmaking dynasty celebrated an extraordinary milestone—its 250th anniversary. Having been a part of the journey to relaunch Urban Jürgensen & Sønner, I’ve had the privilege to witness firsthand the brand’s rebirth in the modern era. This journey included the ambitious project initiated by Peter Baumberger in 2003 to develop an in-house movement, with the invaluable support of Derek Pratt.
Derek's magnum opus – the Oval Pocket Watch – will be auctioned off on November 8, 2024, during the Phillips RELOADED thematic sale. What follows are a selected portion of my memories of the time when I worked alongside Peter and Derek.
I first met Peter and Derek in the mid-1970s. Back then, I was still fresh to the watch world, and to me, they were like gods. Peter, in those days, was perhaps the most renowned collector and dealer—someone who commanded respect across the industry. To have the chance to work with such titans right from the start was an honor I didn’t take lightly.
Peter once told me, “Helmut, there are numerous excellent watchmakers in Switzerland, but there is no one like Derek Pratt. He is exceptional. Derek’s the one who works on my special pieces.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Derek’s expertise was unparalleled – he had overhauled the famous ultra-complicated pocket watch Vacheron Constantin N°402833 of his majesty King Fouad, king of Egypt, now in the VC museum as well as the famous A.Lange & Söhne tourbillon, N°42501 from 1903, with the Professor Graff case and the Minerva enamel medallion.
Peter had access to the rarest and most complicated timepieces in the world, and he knew that with Derek behind him, no challenge was too great. Derek could not only service these pieces but, if necessary, even replace intricate parts, always with a level of precision that was second to none.
By the early 1980s, Derek’s reputation had already spread far and wide. Collectors from around the globe were making the pilgrimage to his workshop, eager to meet him and gain insight into his craft. I often accompanied Peter and these collectors to Derek’s studio, in Balm bei Günsberg, Switzerland, where he would walk us through his machines, explaining his methods in detail. It was an education for all of us.
The ’80s marked the beginning of the Urban Jürgensen revival, with Peter and Derek at the helm. I’ll admit, at first, I was a bit skeptical. My passion was for historical watches, not contemporary creations, so I wasn’t sure how I felt about Peter shifting his focus to new watch production. But I stayed close to the project and traveled with him to meet clients, watching the brand evolve in real-time.
Their first goal was a small production run of pocket watch tourbillons. To make this happen, Peter and Derek needed an exceptionally well-equipped workshop, complete with a few rare, antique machines. Peter even sold off his personal collection of historic watches to fund this venture. But fortune was on their side—the Quartz Crisis was wreaking havoc on traditional watchmaking firms, and entire stocks of equipment were being sold off for a pittance. Peter was able to hand-pick the best machines, quickly setting up the new atelier for Urban Jürgensen.
Peter didn’t want to just develop an in-house caliber for the sake of it. He wanted to carry forward the great tradition of Urban Jürgensen: precision timepieces with chronometer escapements. By 2003, Derek had already completed a feasibility study for what became known as the P8 project, testing a chronometer escapement in a Unitas caliber. The initial results were promising, but the challenges were daunting. Miniaturization was one hurdle, but the bigger issue was the escapement’s vulnerability to shocks—especially in the context of a wristwatch, which is always in motion.
Derek crafted a one-off prototype, but serial production was always Peter's end goal. This called for advanced horological engineering, and so the project was handed over to a young engineer named Jean-François Mojon, who today is best known as the founder of Chronode. The aim was to create a modular caliber capable of hosting various complications, and importantly, to design two versions: the P8 with a chronometer escapement, and the P4 with a traditional lever escapement.
Unfortunately, Derek’s health began to decline, and he gradually stepped away from the project. At this point, Kari Voutilainen took over Derek’s responsibilities, overseeing the decoration, assembly, and regulation of the movement, while providing crucial feedback to Mojon and his team.
Reflecting on that journey, I feel privileged to have witnessed such a pivotal chapter in the history of horology. Both Peter and Derek left an indelible mark on the craft, and their legacy continues in every timepiece that bears the Urban Jürgensen name.
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Phillips Reloaded catalog right here.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
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