URWERK blooms in pink
The Geneva-based maison, URWERK, known for its avant-garde designs and complications, is now unveiling its latest creation – the UR-106 Pink Lotus
Founded in 1997, the brand presented its first timepiece to the AHCI at Baselworld that same year. The URWERK collection, since then, has grown to include several series of timepieces including the 110, the 103, the 200, the 1001 and LAB. The UR-110 was awarded the prize for ‘Best Design Watch’ at the 2011 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. URWERK also created the Opus V for Harry Winston.
Its latest creation is a pink lotus with a dark side that bursts into flower as the latest model in URWERK’s 106 series. Within the UR-106 black pink watch turns a shadowy carousel, encased in gleaming black under an arch of jet-black diamonds. Vivid, shocking pink flares like a firework in the night, focusing the mind on the essentials – the hourly milestones of time, as they rotate into position to accomplish their 60-minute patrol.
Like virtually all of URWERK’s models, the UR-106 Pink Lotus is based on the wandering hours principle. Three satellite arms, each bearing four numerals, carry successive hours across a scale of minutes in a dynamic display of the inexorable progress of time. A labyrinthine moon sweeps across the night to complete the picture.
According to its creators, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, particular attention was paid to the details of this version. The carousel and satellites were worked on by hand to create a special satin finish, while the maison’s workshops carefully painted on each hour numeral and cut-out minutes scale. The moon shines in a sky of lapis-lazuli blue selected from hundreds of different shades, while the outline of the lotus on the back is exactly as Martin drew it. This resulted in a sleek, handsome watch for the UR-106 series, which was considered as a success.
The UR-106 Black Pink Lotus has a self-winding calibre, the UR6.01, with a 48-hour power reserve and a finishing of circular graining, sanding, brushing and Chamfered screw heads. The dial has a sanded and brushed baseplate, where the carousel and hours satellites have been sanded and brushed by hand, with an openworked minutes track. The Labyrinth-style moon in silver floats on a lapis-lazuli disc, with the hours and minutes hand-painted in SuperLuminova. The indications are of the wandering hours, minutes and moon phases.
The case is made of steel with a titanium crown, black PVD-coated and set with black diamonds, and a titanium caseback (limited series of 11 watches). The UR-106 Black Pink Lotus is 35mm wide; 49.4mm long; 14.45mm high, with Sapphire crystal glasses, and has a water resistance of 3 ATM (30 meters).
The name URWERK is a play on the German word ‘Uhrwerk’, meaning ‘clockwork’. The ‘Ur’ in URWERK’s name refers to the ancient Sumerian city of Ur where over 6,000 years ago people used giant sundials to measure time; the ‘werk’ refers to the German noun ‘das Werk’ meaning ‘work’ or ‘creation’.
