Urwerk watches defy tradition
Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, founders of the independent watch brand, continue to let their imaginations run wild with these recent pieces
URWERK’S timepieces are created on a blank sheet of paper. On it, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, founders of the independent watch brand, find inspiration from pop culture, fairy tales, movies as well as historical and literary references they grew up with.
They give birth to horological creations alien to eyes that see timepieces only in the conventional round or square case, framing a dial with hands indicating the hours and minutes. Star Wars fans may easily mistake them for models of futuristic spaceships.
For those unfamiliar with Urwerk’s works, it’s time they get acquainted with them. And they can start with some of the new watches rolled out recently by the brand.
UR-150 Blue Scorpion
Despite the reference to a predatory arachnid with a killer sting, this striking blue timepiece, which looks like it is designed to roam the universe than tell time on earth, is said to be “a genuine satellite complication” displaying “a fresh kinetic art”.
The UR-150’s face is round and shielded by a domed sapphire crystal, but it is not a conventional dial. Instead of the three familiar thin hands in a regular watch, there is only one broad skeleton retrograde hand on it.
The hands rotate around the dial in a regular watch. In the UR-150, the retrograde hand, stretched out like a bow, sweeps across an arc on the dial at each change of hour. Moving from minute 0 to 60, it makes a lightning-fast 240 degrees return when it hits the 60th minute. Meanwhile, the three hours satellites mounted on a flying carousel, whirring non-stop, pivot on their axis and simultaneously rotate 270 degrees.
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This perfectly synchronised double act serves to reposition the next active hour to the nearest hundredth of a second – too fast for the naked eye to detect, yet impossible to ignore.
Here is where the scorpion sneaks into the mind’s eye. “The scorpion sting lurks silently,” says Frei, who is also Urwerk’s artistic director. “Each time (before each new hour appears) there is a brief moment of uncertainty, a slight unease, a silent tension that whispers: Perhaps this time, the right number will not appear… yet the magic happens, instilling a fresh sense of wonder.”
The conductor of the “perilous ballet” is a cam and rack mechanism inspired by the world of automatons, coupled with a speed regulator. Together, they manage power, balance forces and harness energy. Says Baumgartner, who is Urwerk’s master watchmaker: “The real complexity doesn’t lie in the number of components (in the mechanism), rather in the precision of their interaction. Everything must work in perfect harmony: power, inertia, fluidity.”
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The UR-150 Blue Scorpion, which comes in a steel case with titanium case-back, is a limited edition of 50 pieces.
UR-101 T-Rex
A tactile timepiece that demands to be touched? As if it has gone through a skin grafting procedure, this resurrected UR-101 has textured skin, scaly armour covering its bezel, sides and lugs. Urwerk calls it “the T-Rex treatment”, alluding to the scales of the giant dinosaur.
The resulting geometric design is not new to horology. Traditionally it is known as the guilloche pattern and has decorated many watch dials, protected under a sapphire crystal. On the UR-101, it is exposed to the touch, filter-free free and deliberately invites contact.
In fact, the geometric pattern first appeared in 2016 on the UR-105 T-Rex and followed some years later by the UR-100 T-Rex. Still, the T-Rex treatment also showcases the art of finishing, a sometimes-overlooked facet of Urwerk’s approach.
Urwerk has deliberately endowed the UR with a bronze case. The alloy regenerates naturally like human skin, says Frei. “It reoxidised as soon as it is scratched, and this oxidation protects it and erases the traces of time.”
The UR-101 T-Rex, which is a 100-piece limited edition, is a return to Urwerk’s roots. Fans would recognise the two satellites, 180-degree display and snail carousel which, in the new model, have found a new expression for Urwerk’s technical “wandering hours” signature.
UR-100V Magic T “Hunter Green”
The watch plays on colour. Green? Yes, but not quite. Grey? Not really. Under the light, the shade tends towards an ash green – sophisticated and subtly metallic.
All this takes place on a timepiece in full titanium. Together, they once again magnify the technical and visual minimalism of the UR-100V Magic T collection. From case to bracelet, the watch is designed and crafted to catch the very essence of the colour and material.
Hunter green is the obvious colour choice. “It’s a living, breathing colour that interacts with light and time,” says Frei. Adds Baumgartner: “Exploring this watch becomes almost a game of discovery through time and space.”
The very essence of the UR-100V Magic T line is retained: visual minimalism in perfect harmony with cutting-edge watchmaking engineering. Urwerk’s satellite-type wandering hours is reinvented on this timepiece, but its signature feature remains; instead of traditional hands, the hours satellite crosses a graduated arc to indicate the minutes and when the 60 minutes are up, a new satellite bearing the next hour appears.
There are also two unique counters. The first displays the distance the earth covers in 20 minutes as it rotates on its own axis; the second shows how far the earth travels in the same time as it revolves around the sun.
The watchmaking technology is a throwback to a 17th century clock, but the “Hunter Green” watch is a tribute to, as well as a futuristic exploration of space, volume and time.
UR-230 Polaris
By colour alone, it is not recognisable as an Urwerk watch. The brand’s models were black, grey and muted textures; the trapeze shape UR-230 Polaris is white.
Even the material is new. The UR-230 Eagle released a year ago, the first opus in the 230 series, was crafted from TPT carbon.
The Polaris, the second in the series, is made of fibreglass-enhanced ceramic. This highly technical and proprietary material is stronger than pure ceramic. It does not shatter upon strong impact, which ceramic is prone to.
The Polaris’ colour is, in fact, a by-product of the new material; the resin that encapsulates the fibre-based sheets is white. So, not only is it a breakthrough in watchmaking, fibreglass enhanced ceramic also opens a new colour horizon – “a polar perspective”.
Yet white may be identified with the world of science fiction, which has inspired many Urwerk creations. The Polaris’ white case and the black movement inside, especially with the white rubber strap on, recall the aesthetics of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
On the Polaris, a limited edition of 35 pieces, Urwerk’s revolving satellite complication has grown more sophisticated. The carousel now has three arms, while the rotating blocks carry four-hour numerals.
The aluminium 3D retrograde hand indicating the minutes, like the colour of the case and strap, is white.
The movement is protected by a world-first set of shock absorbers which works with two turbines. The first eases the impact of external shocks; the second regulates the winding power.
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