Jules Jurgensen Serial Number List
Posted : admin On 15.12.2020Jules Jurgensen NEW mens Day & Date blue watch in box Quartz Analog Steel #7641U. I have seen a wristwatch made from old Jurgensen material with poorer finish and the serial number 217,xxx. There were several others who continued the business for many years up to the quartz era but the watches most esteemed by collectors are mechanical with. Many people are unfamiliar with Jules Jurgensen, so perhaps a brief history of the maker is in order. Donald Dawes wrote a wonderful monograph covering the history of the brand.
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I have prepared this short monograph to provide information on these watches so owners can answer their simplest questions without need of going into further detail. I have recently been asked about quartz watches bearing the name Jules Jurgensen. By giving a chronology of the make, I will show where they as well as others of the make fit.
Jules Jurgensen was born in Locle, Switzerland in 1808 while his parents were visiting and his father was studying jewel piercing. The family was settled in Copenhagen where his father Urban made timepieces and thermometers. Jules grew up in Copenhagen working at the bench with his brother, Louis-Urban under his father’s supervision. He was the third generation of his family to study horology.
The house of Jurgensen was established by his grandfather Jorgen, a farm boy who had run away and showed great aptitude for the intricate devices in clocks while apprenticed to a clockmaker in Copenhagen. Jorgen furthered his training in Locle with the celebrated horologist, J. F. Houriet with whom he set up a business relationship. Jorgen’s son Urban studied the craft with his father and then went to Locle, Paris and London to polish his skills. He met and later married Sophie-Henriette Houriet, the daughter of J. F. Houriet while in Locle.
Jules followed his father’s footsteps studying in Locle, Geneva, London and Paris. Around 1835 he set himself making watches in Locle. He married a Swiss girl, Anastasie Lavalette from an horological family in Geneva in 1836. They had five children including two sons, Jules-Urban-Frederick and Jacques-Alfred who followed him in the craft and became renown in their own turn.
Out of sentiment this branch of the family marked their watches “Copenhagen†for many years. (The watches stemming from Urban Jurgensen and his sons were “Urban Jurgensen & Sonnerâ€, which I believe still markets high grade mechanical watches.)
Jules Jurgensen’s most notable patent (1867) was his method of setting the hands of the watch by moving the bow forward (hunting case) or backward (open face). He put guard rings on the bow so the clutch wouldn’t engage unless the front or back of the case was open. These became such a style feature that American case makers imitated them and sold “Jurgensen style†cases with rings on the bows.
The firm continued under family control until 1916 when David Golay a regleur for the house bought the firm from J. A.’s widow. He in turn sold out to E. Heuer in Bienne in 1925. During this time someone felt that marking the dials “Est. 1740 and the movements and Switzerland†would add a prestigious aura to the watches. The quality, however, continued unchanged, the best! By this time total production was around 17,000. Sales/production of Jules Jurgensen watches between 1848 and 1878 seems to have been about 300 a year. In that period they were rated in the trade along with those of Charles Frodsham in London as extremely fine. When in 1876 The American Watch Company received it’s excellent reviews in Philadelphia, sales started to decline. There are some watches that seem to have very low serial numbers for their style. I know that J. A. made watches for a time under his own name and probably his brother did the same before their father died in 1877. Both sons in turn returned to manage the family enterprise established by their father when a death in the family made it necessary.
By 1936, with the depression in full swing, demand for great watches shrunk to a mere trickle and the firm was sold to the New York house of Aisenstein-Woronock, who used up the old stock and began making nicely cased watches with well finished movements from “Ebauches S. A.†Aisenstein-Woronock felt adding a extra 2 to the serial number would add prestige. I have seen a wristwatch made from old Jurgensen material with poorer finish and the serial number 217,xxx.
There were several others who continued the business for many years up to the quartz era but the watches most esteemed by collectors are mechanical with serial numbers of 17,xxx or less.
A Brief History of Jules Jurgensen Watches
May 16, 2005
by Donald L. Dawes
Presentation Jules Jurgensen open face pocket watch in 14k with fob chain and knife. Manual w/ subseconds. Fine Pre-owned Jules Jurgensen Watch. Certified preowned Jules Jurgensen pocket watch watch is made out of yellow gold. This Jules Jurgensen watch has a 44 mm case with a Round caseback and Cream Arabic and Stick dial. New Listing JULES JURGENSEN DAY / DATE WINDOW VINTAGE MEN'S WRIST WATCH w/ BAND - 3247. Ending Jul 20 at 5:58PM PDT 6d 19h. Brand: Jules Jurgensen Department: Men Display: Analog. Jules Jurgensen Gold Watch. Ending Jul 22 at 3:08PM PDT 8d 16h. This is an authentic Jules Jurgensen wristwatch. The watch has been professionally serviced. Brand: Jules Jurgensen Material: Stainless Steel (gold plated accents) Movement: Quartz Case: 21.7mm wide (not including the crown) Band Width: 14.6mm Lug. So to determine when your watch was manufactured, you will need to find where your serial number fits within the range of numbers. Serial number look-up example: Let's say you have a Waltham watch with serial number 21,607,210 as shown in the photo below. Vintage Jules Jurgensen Watch Values - Unique Gift Ideas - mySimon is the premier price comparison shopping online site letting you compare prices and find the best deals on all the hottest new products!
GUEST:
It's been in my family for generations. It was supposedly made by my great-great-great-grandfather. It was handed down to my grandfather and then to my father and to me. Supposedly it was made with Jules Jurgensen. I think he was a jeweler from Massachusetts. The watch was on display in Massachusetts for a long time. Other than that, I have very little history about it other than what's in the letter.
APPRAISER:
So the letter was written, you believe, somewhere in the 1940s?
GUEST:
Late 1940s.
APPRAISER:
And the signature at the bottom is your grandfather's signature.
GUEST:
That would be my grandfather's signature.
APPRAISER:
It talks about the watch. Assassins creed 4 trainer download. The watch is a masterpiece of horology.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
It's a perpetual calendar. It knows how many days are in each month, and on the fourth year, one gear ends up knowing that it has 29 days in February.
Jules Jurgensen Watch Serial Numbers
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
It also is a minute repeater, which means it chimes in a succession to the nearest minute.
GUEST:
Wow. (chiming)
APPRAISER:
It would ring hour bells, then quarter-hour bells, and then minute bells. Okay. It also shows the phase of the moon. It also has another function, which is a chronometer that you can time something with. The case is made out of 18-karat gold. It's a hunting case. When you open the watch up in the back, there's an exhibition cover which then shows the entire movement. There's an issue I have with the letter. The letter says that the watch was 140 years old when the letter was written. The watch, though, was probably produced between 1880 to 1890. So if it was written in the '40s, then the watch was about 60 years old. When we see something where one thing is off, then we have to wonder, are there other things that are off? So it says in the letter that your great-grandfather, I guess, was a watchmaker working with Jules Jurgensen. Now, Jules Jurgensen was a preeminent watchmaker in Copenhagen. He worked from in the 1850s to the 1890s. The firm stayed around for years. They were noted for very, very fine watches, also, like this, very, very heavy 18-karat gold. The watch has the feel of what a Jurgensen could be.
Jules Jurgensen Ladies Watch Quartz
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The price of the watch as is, with having a disparity in the date on the letter and as if it was not made by Jules Jurgensen, the value on the retail market would be in the $25,000 to $30,000 price range.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Now, underneath the dial and on some of the plates of the movement, a lot of times there are secret signatures. It probably would be worth spending a little money and having an expert watchmaker disassemble the watch to see if there is anything underneath the dials.
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GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
If there happens to be the 'J.J.' mark of Jules Jurgensen, that could double the price of the watch.
Jules Jurgensen Serial Number Lookup
GUEST:
Okay.