“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” – Confucius


Planet URWERK

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It all started in 1997. No one knows where they came from. They had gold-handed designers and engineers. Loaded with energy, brains, intrepidity- there was no way to stop them. Their creative minds slapped boredom by bringing joy, vigor and…curiosity. The objects they build – well, I’ve never seen anything like these before.

 

I met them in January in Geneva. They showed me what is coming our way to blow everyone away. I tell you – they are huge!

EMC

Having been in the pipeline for a while, the Electro Mechanical Control was born to electronically measure mechanical precision. It is a mechanically independent electronic optical system with an ultra-high 16 MHz reference oscillator that gains power by a manual winding charger – and URWERK’s latest piece including this system bears the same name too.

With the EMC URWERK demonstrates the quality of their first in-house movement beating in the timepiece in addition to offering some play for the owner. During the day, when the wrist is in constant motion, the balance wheel is under different forces from various directions, which has of course an impact on precision. The delta between the reference and the actual oscillation converted to seconds the movement is late or fast per day, and is shown by the timepiece. In order to enable optical capturing of mechanical oscillations, the balance wheel had to be completely redefined – it is a perfectly linear cylinder with no regulating screws whatsoever. Not so much for everyday use, but it is a rather interesting feat that the wearer can intervene and compensate the delta by adjusting the length of the flat balance spring with a screw. The manual movement is operated by the energy stored on the vertically mounted double barrels.

The designers of URWERK have once again created an unusual watch face. The four gauges are hosted by the asymmetric titanium-stainless steel case in a way that it recalls space ship dashboards rather than traditional mechanical timepieces – reminds me of the Beastie Boys’ Intergalactic video. This daring independence and the graceful ability to dance on the edge of traditional and super-futuristic are exactly what I like about the brand. It possesses the right proportions and the entire look of the watch is solid having all parts in harmony as a whole. Funny enough, with the leather strap it would even escort you to an elegant party. Hurry up, there’s only 55 being created from this model.

 

UR – 210Y “Black hawk”

A perfect companion for space travelers devoted to high efficiency on all fronts, the UR – 210Y emerged from the legacy of the UR series. It has the retrograde minute hand with the satellite hour torpedoes and the large “windscreen”, which are so characteristic of the brand. However, the newcomer, being automatic, has a nice little feat that sets it apart – it allows the monitoring of the winding efficiency with the small scale at 11 o’clock. If you move more, it saves more, if less, then it starts consuming the stored energy. Together with the power reserve indicator in the opposite corner it offers a complete understanding of your power status and trends of movements in the last 2 hours. What’s more, on the reverse side you can adjust the winding efficiency based on the pattern of your movements. Select “FULL” and the energy generated by the rotor will be uninterruptedly transferred to the barrel, or if your wrist motion is more intense “REDUCED” will activate the air turbine compressor that creates resistance to slow down the weight. You may even switch it off completely and generate power via manual winding.

The UR – 210Y “Black hawk” is made of titanium and AlTiN-treated steel. The watch is limited to 75 pieces.

 
Emergency on Planet Earth!

Photo credits: Urwerk, Loupiosity.com.
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