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Lot Essay
US$37,500-62,500
With undated Urban Jürgensen & Sonner Certificate of Origin, product literature, original fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Christie's is honoured to be chosen by Urban Jürgensen & Sonner as their exclusive partner to launch the new celebrated and award winning chronometer P8 with patented pivoted detent escapement, the world's first wristwatch to feature the legendary detent escapement.
Thomas Earnshaw (1749 - 1829), an English watchmaker, developed and generalised the spring-detent escapemtn around 1780. In the lever escapement, the escape-wheel teeth and pallet fork generate a lot of friction between them. Earnshaw's modification was to eliminate the pallet fork, the main element for the lever escapement and instead, altered the balance wheel so that it would only interact with the escapement once per second when changing direction (the detent is what changes the direction of the balance wheel). Instead of connecting multiple times per second as in the case of the components of the lever escapement, Earnshaw's detent escapement only connects the component once per second. Subsequently, the friction between the parts is greatly reduced and together with it, the frequency of maintenance for the movement to run efficiently. This revolutionary escapement however, could not be adapted fully to mechanical movements because of its streme sensitivity to shocks. The spring-detent escapement was therefore limited mainly to marine chronometers up until the 1970's when most mechanical time keeping devices were lost to the quartz revolution.
Urban Jügensen, after many years of constant research and development, has been able to overcome the issue of shock damage to the detent escapement by deisgning and manufacturing a revolutionary pivoted detent escapement. This chronometer escapement delivers impulses directly to the balance from the escape wheel, without an intermediate component such as the lever. Each oscillation of the regulating organ - the balance and the spring - is only disturbed once and not twice as in other escapements. The escapements has a pivoted arm, or detent, controlled by a fine spring, and it is the detent which allows the escapement to be locked and unlocked as required.
Available in a pre-series of 50 pieces in platinum and 30 in pink gold, Christie's is delighted to present the very first wristwatch manufactured completely in-house by Urban Jügensen. Presented in an elegant case with its delicate engine-turned silver dials, the patented pivoted detent escapement P8, with its strong emphasis on precision, reliability and long intervals between servicing due to the fact that the escapement does not need oil, is a testimony both to the brand's philosophy in supreme watch manufacturing and unique designs which transcend the passage of time.
With undated Urban Jürgensen & Sonner Certificate of Origin, product literature, original fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Christie's is honoured to be chosen by Urban Jürgensen & Sonner as their exclusive partner to launch the new celebrated and award winning chronometer P8 with patented pivoted detent escapement, the world's first wristwatch to feature the legendary detent escapement.
Thomas Earnshaw (1749 - 1829), an English watchmaker, developed and generalised the spring-detent escapemtn around 1780. In the lever escapement, the escape-wheel teeth and pallet fork generate a lot of friction between them. Earnshaw's modification was to eliminate the pallet fork, the main element for the lever escapement and instead, altered the balance wheel so that it would only interact with the escapement once per second when changing direction (the detent is what changes the direction of the balance wheel). Instead of connecting multiple times per second as in the case of the components of the lever escapement, Earnshaw's detent escapement only connects the component once per second. Subsequently, the friction between the parts is greatly reduced and together with it, the frequency of maintenance for the movement to run efficiently. This revolutionary escapement however, could not be adapted fully to mechanical movements because of its streme sensitivity to shocks. The spring-detent escapement was therefore limited mainly to marine chronometers up until the 1970's when most mechanical time keeping devices were lost to the quartz revolution.
Urban Jügensen, after many years of constant research and development, has been able to overcome the issue of shock damage to the detent escapement by deisgning and manufacturing a revolutionary pivoted detent escapement. This chronometer escapement delivers impulses directly to the balance from the escape wheel, without an intermediate component such as the lever. Each oscillation of the regulating organ - the balance and the spring - is only disturbed once and not twice as in other escapements. The escapements has a pivoted arm, or detent, controlled by a fine spring, and it is the detent which allows the escapement to be locked and unlocked as required.
Available in a pre-series of 50 pieces in platinum and 30 in pink gold, Christie's is delighted to present the very first wristwatch manufactured completely in-house by Urban Jügensen. Presented in an elegant case with its delicate engine-turned silver dials, the patented pivoted detent escapement P8, with its strong emphasis on precision, reliability and long intervals between servicing due to the fact that the escapement does not need oil, is a testimony both to the brand's philosophy in supreme watch manufacturing and unique designs which transcend the passage of time.