Urchin-like nickel micro particles were produced in aqueous solution through a simple auto-catalytic chemical reduction method without any complexant or surfactant by slowly increasing the temperature of the bath from 25 degrees C to an aging plateau at 85 degrees C. The overall time of synthesis is around 40 min. The micro urchins are nanostructured, formed by only one fcc-Ni phase with mean crystallite size of 27.6 nm; they have mean diameter of 1.36 mu m with spherical core and blade shaped spikes rising from its surface. In order to study the nucleation and growth process, we also repeated the synthesis changing its plateau temperature and aging time. Based on the reaction temperature and time investigations, a scheme for the micro urchins formation was proposed and discussed. Vibrating sample magnetometry measurements of the particles present coercivity (Hc = 107.12 Oe) and relative remanence (Mr/Ms = 0.15) much higher than the nickel bulk and lower saturation magnetization (Ms = 50.8 emu/g) due to their shape and nanosized structure. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.