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


Time is on my side

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“Time is on my side” – was the song from Rolling Stones the guys at Urwerk claim to have listened to on and on to get them going during the early difficulties in 1999. Felix, Thomas and Martin eventually made it and their extra-terrestrial time-measuring objects changed the face of time. Funnily enough, years after the days and nights spent with the Stones, they literally enabled 8 lucky individuals to wear time on their side. The UR 1001 Zeit Device, as they call it, came out in 2011 and was the first pocket-watch the company produced. I encountered one of the eight last week at the Zürich Les Ambassadeurs boutique; let me share a few photos with you.

The creators took the project and the whole watch as a “playground” without the size limitations that a wearable wristwatch sets. Therefore, it is not the sleekest and lightest you’ve ever seen, but in return you get a stylish mechanical time computer that is able to display the passing of seconds on a 1000-year scale. It is a large playground, you need a suitable pocket to wear it – no wonder Felix and Martin had a new suit tailored at Timothy Everest in London, with an appropriate pocket, before the announcement of the new timepiece.

For those of you who know Urwerk the appearance will not be shocking. It has two satellite disks with retrograde torpedoes in the front – one for the time, another for the date. The face also includes a small day and night indicator and a power reserve gauge. The case is very masculine, made of AlTiN-treated steel with titanium elements and it has a significant weight. The back can be unfolded, which allows a glimpse onto the barrel and the three instruments. There is an “oil change” aka service indicator on a scale of 5 years, and next to it two others displaying time in rather unusual dimensions. One shows years on a 100-year scale, and another on a 1,000-year slider. The movement underneath is the UR-10.01 self-winding.

An everyday piece? Definitely not! Beyond cash, UR 1001 requires a fair bit of self-confidence and extravagance. It is for personalities whose charm is not established but elevated by such a timekeeper, and can value the game Felix and Martin started to play and take it even further.

 

Photo credits: Loupiosity.com.
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