URWERK bids goodbye in style with UR-110 Bakelite
Ten years after its launch, URWERK has issued a final UR-110 in bakelite – a one-of-a-kind model that was auctioned off on the marque’s dedicated website for CHF120,000, with most of the proceeds going to the Swiss Red Cross
URWERK founders, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei announced that the brand is proud to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 110 collection. This is a creation that won the Best Design prize in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève; that faced evil on the wrist of IronMan, the most badass Superhero of them all; and that made the cover of major watchmaking magazines at the time of its launch in 2011. It needed to complete one last mission before it slipped away, and hence the auction with proceeds to charity.
The UR-110 is therefore retiring exactly 10 years after its birth – and doing so in style, on behalf of a worthy cause. This one-off UR-110 Bakelite was unveiled on 10.10 at 10:10 a.m. Geneva time on the brand’s website, and was sold for CHF120,000.
The UR-110 Bakelite features a titanium case and an original bezel made of bakelite, a star material from the 1900s. Bakelite was one of the first high-tech materials ever developed. Its properties were and remain multiple and revolutionary. Insulating and heat-resistant, it was present in all everyday objects at the time, from eyeglass frames to radios.