URWERK advances with ultra-modern watches

The independent watchmaking company created a buzz at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) 2016 with its release of three high-end ultra-modern timepieces that tickled the futuristic fantasies of watch connoisseurs. The Swiss watch brand presented two style statement inducing watches for men as well as a dedicated avant-garde timepiece for women

Regarded as a pioneer on the independent watchmaking scene, URWERK has made an outstanding reputation in creating complex and modern watches that meet the demanding criteria in Haute Horlogerie: Independent research and design, cutting-edge materials and hand-crafted finishing.

From releasing their first watch in the early ‘90s to introducing astonishing contemporart models, URWERK presented highly original design, advanced watchmaking techniques and new concepts. At SIHH 2016, the Swiss independent company unveiled three remarkable timepieces: The EMC Time-Hunter and UR-105 T-Rex, for men, and the UR-106 “Lotus” for women.

EMC “Time Hunter”

Factors like variations in temperature, the time a watch spends in a particular position or wearer’s daily activity affect the watch accuracy. The combined effect can make the watch lose 15 or more seconds daily. This is where the EMC “Time Hunter” comes in picture, where it measures the number of seconds lost and gained by the watch in a week or month. It adjusts the precision accordingly and the wearer can confirm the precision by using the EMC functionality. In short, this timepiece provides the correctness of the watch according to daily rhythm and pace of life of its different users.

EMC “Time Hunter” marks the dawn of a new era that of a fully 100% mechanical watch enhanced by electronics allowing the owner to gauge both the state of the movement and its chronometric performance. The new EMC allows its wearer to both monitor the health (amplitude) of the watch and its precision as worn on the wrist. Accuracy can then be easily adjusted for each owner's lifestyle. Interactivity is at the heart of the EMC concept and is the real added value of the precision watch.

The timepiece features a highly legible time display with central hours and minutes indicated with high-contrast black hands enhanced with bright white Super-LumiNova. A rotating disk displaying seconds at 1 o'clock is visually balanced by the power reserve indicator at its antipode at 7 o'clock. The Super-LumiNova also ensures high legibility at night as it glows in blue and white.

Its dial on the top left corner at 10 o'clock displays the two EMC electronic indications: timekeeping precision to +/- 15 seconds per day and the amplitude of the balance. Meanwhile, turning the EMC over reveals the fully in-house movement with integrated circuit board (the EMC 'brain'), the top of one of the two mainspring barrels near the crown, as well as the top of the balance wheel and optical sensor on the winding handle side. Developed and crafted in the URWERK ateliers in Zurich and calibrated by URWERK in Geneva, its movement meets the most stringent quality control, with its chronometric performance tested in five positions during a 30-day cycle to ensure that it meets the highest standards for a precision watch. The manual winding caliber UR-EMC2 carries 80 hours of power reserve when fully wound.

At its heart, EMC has a triple objective: To show how external parameters (positional changes, temperature, and pressure) influence the timing of the movement; to enable the wearer to adjust the timing; and to facilitate interactivity between the timepiece and its owner.

It is available in two limited editions of fifteen pieces in natural titanium/steel, and fifteen pieces with a military green ceramic-coated titanium/steel case.

UR-105 T-Rex

URWERK presents its UR-105 “T-Rex”, nicknamed after its atypical case that is crisscrossed by a raised, concentrically ribbed pattern evoking the scales of certain reptiles – a textured, bark-like coating that is soft to the touch. The UR-105 T-Rex is a measuring instrument that has made its way through time and space. It reproduces on the wrist the most symbolic, universal and beautiful manifestation of the passing hours: The path of the sun from its rising to its setting.

On the UR-105 T-Rex, a single hours pointer thus travels from east to west, creating an authentically universal yet minimalist depiction of time. Housed in a textured pebble-shaped case, the satellite hours of the UR-105 “T-Rex”wander along the centre stage in a 60-minute journey.

Technically speaking, the UR-105 “T-Rex” is a satellite hours watch such as only URWERK makes them. Four satellites, each bearing three hour numerals, successively parade past the minute rail. This original and intuitive reading of time is facilitated by a cover made of PEEK (polyetheretherketone) that conceals the satellites not relevant to the time read-off. In keeping with the finest watchmaking traditions, this cover is adorned with a superb guilloché pattern.

This 105 model also embodies the year of research invested into URWERK’s years wandering hour satellites. The ingenuity of the mechanism lies in the invisible carousel fitted beneath the satellite structure, and responsible for the silent and smooth operation of the satellite hours.

The back shows the turbines of the UR-105 “T-Rex” which regulate the winding of the watch. They are adjusted by means of a lever. In the “FULL” position, even the slightest movement is leveraged to help wind up the mainspring. The UR-105 T-Rex is thus in automatic winding mode and its winding is optimized by the effect of its turbines. In “STOP” mode, the winding system is disabled and the UR-105 can thus be hand-wound if required via the crown. A third intermediate “RED” (for REDUCED) moderates the winding so as to avoid excessive tension on the mainspring.

Available in limited edition of 22 pieces, the heart of this timepiece lies in the 5.02 UR automatic winding calibre regulated by a double turbine, with power reserve of 48 hours.

UR-106 “Lotus”

The UR-106 “Lotus” is the first from the independent brand that is especially made for women. Elegant, slender and graceful, it shows the sensitive side of URWERK’s nature. It features the brand’s signature satellite hours in a guise never before seen. Three satellite hours wander across the dial to create the most graphic of horological blooms.

The UR-106 Lotus features a revised version of the satellite hours. Three satellites, each with four hour numerals, sweep along the minutes scale in an analogue and digital indication of time. A moonphase adds to the display.

It comes in two versions: titanium and steel with diamonds on the bezel, crown and buckle; and black PVC-coated titanium and steel set with black diamonds.