Showing posts with label URWERK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label URWERK. Show all posts

Monday, October 14, 2024

URWERK – UR-150 SCORPION Edition


URWERK UR-SATELLIT UR-150 SCORPION Titan and Dark Limited Edition - 2024

The UR-150 Scorpion
URWERK’s new lethal masterpiece.

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   URWERK reinvents its iconic satellite hours complication. A new mechanism for a new scenography. The UR-150 Scorpion appears in a rounded shell. But don't be fooled by its calm, relaxed facade: the UR-150 hides a fearsome device, a lightning sting whose lethal function is triggered in a hundredth of a second.

Beware the fierce mechanism!

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It's one of Muhammad Ali’s most famous mottos and the secret of his success: ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’. It’s a statement that could easily be applied to the latest creation from URWERK, the UR-150, a watch that also flies and stings… but like a scorpion. Inspired by the arachnid’s stinger, the nickname of this creation references the trajectory of the 240-degree minutes sector, resembling a scorpion’s tail poised to attack. 

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This symbolism also extends to the retrograde minutes hand, ready to unleash its blistering power as it strikes each passing hour… fast and fearsome. 

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Hammerhead, Tarantula, Cobra, Scorpion: URWERK has repeatedly been inspired by menacing creatures. “We've once again chosen an evocative nickname for our creation and the scorpion is indeed a nasty beast – yet the design of the UR-150 is gentle. It’s very URWERK … the aggressive symbolism belies the reality of the watch’s cool, calm personality”, says Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and URWERK co-founder, with a laugh. “We choose to inhabit an extreme world, because we are anything but ordinary and reasonable”, he continues.

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This UR-150 features a large openworked hand framing the prevailing hour. The tip of this hand arcs over the minutes track. Once the 60th minute has elapsed, the hours hand jumps to zero and the journey begins anew. 

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At the same time, all the satellite hours spin on their axes and the retrograde hand frames a new hour – all in just 1/100th of a second.

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The model’s retrograde mechanism present here is reminiscent of the one seen on mechanical automaton: a flying carousel bearing the three hour satellites follows a route determined by a cam. The latter orchestrates the motion of the carousel, a performance that lasts precisely 60 minutes. 

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As the hour hand reaches ’60’, depicted in green numerals, an URWERK spring triggers the UR-150's lightning-fast attack: the retrograde hand makes a 240° jump and the hour satellites simultaneously rotates 270°. “It's like a perfect alignment of the stars, a perfect storm”, says Felix Baumgartner. “In order to drive all the satellites, guide the hour hand and ensure that each element jumps at just the right time, we have designed a new satellite complication system. It is based around a flying wheel and pinion positioned between the satellites and the base movement. It deciphers and follows the ‘guiding thread’ of a cam. We have therefore replaced our ‘classic’ device based on Maltese crosses with this cam and a rack system. This necessitated developing a spring so special that we needed to machine it in our own workshop. To make this burst of movement more visible, we have doubled the usual distance between the 60 and 0 markers”, he concludes.

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The minutes display on the UR-150 is more expansive and more ambitious, moving from the usual 120 degrees to a 240° arc. Optimising available energy is essential to maintaining perfect isochronism and achieving the ‘Perfect Storm’. 

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The retrograde system is the most ambitious ever undertaken by URWERK. The weights employed are the greatest ever used and the speed and inertia the most intense, necessitating the creation of an unprecedented means of controlling the various dynamic forces at play. 

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This technical feat is achieved using a speed regulator fitted to the UR-150’s flywheel, a mechanism usually employed to regulate the chiming sequence on a minute repeater. In this it smooths the return of the retrograde hand.

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The automatic winding system is among several innovative features found on the UR-150. Equipped with a double set of turbines, the ingenious system regulates the solid rotor’s speed. 

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It delivers unprecedented energy and shock-resistance. As Felix Baumgartner explains, “The aim of the turbines is to absorb shocks to the rotor and avoid them affecting the arbor.”

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 The UR-150 also showcases a new artistic direction. The hard sting of the ‘Scorpion’ nickname contrasts with the organic shape of this new model.

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When designing the inaugural UR-100 collection, the Maison adopted an alternative approach to design: “It's an evolutionary process”, explains URWERK’s Creative Director and Co-Founder Martin Frei. “We like to play with lines and enjoy juxtaposing gentle curves with acute angles. Here, the profile of the case and sapphire crystal is a section of the same shape – meaning perfectly spherical – while the minutes hand shares exactly the same curve.”

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Viewed from the side, the UR-150 features an arched profile, with the case and sapphire crystal extending from the curve of the bracelet along the same curved line, ergonomically hugging the curves of the wrist.

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The curvature extends beyond the case and into the movement itself, since the satellites and hours hand share the same sloping profile. “On this UR-150 you can read the time without twisting your wrist. The present faces us, confronts us. Everything is a matter of detail, a game of positioning. The tension between the gentle contours of the case and the forceful motion of the mechanism imbues the UR-150 with vitality … with energy”, says Martin Frei. “I'm not interested in harmony”, he points out, convinced that “Beauty appears through a field of tensions.”

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Inside this new body, URWERK has installed the latest evolution of its wandering satellite-hour movement. The UR-150 delivers a sense of theatre when one hour dramatically transitions to the next. “It's a vibration in the spacetime continuum”, Martin Frei continues. “This moment of turning back time is very special. Can one lose or gain time? At URWERK, we love this moment, we wait for it and we observe it – and all the more so because it has a dual nature. While the minutes tick by slowly, in the absence of a seconds indicator, the minutes hand returns to its point of origin instantaneously.”

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The UR-150 will be available in two variations - Titan and Dark - of 50 pieces each.  

==========================
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: UR-SATELLIT

Model:  UR-150 SCORPION Edition
 
MOVEMENT
Caliber:
UR-50.01 with automatic winding system governed by a double turbine 
Jewels: 38
Escapement: Swiss lever
Frequency: 28,800 vph - 4Hz
Power reserve: 43 hours
Materials: Aluminium satellite hours on a brass carousel; aluminium retrograde hand
Circular graining, sandblasted, shot-blasting, circular satin finishing
Chamfered screw hands
Hours and minutes index incorporating Super-LumiNova® treatment
INDICATIONS
Satellite hours; minutes.
CASE
Material
: Sandblasted and shot-blasted titanium and steel for the Titan version
Sandblasted and shot-blasted titanium
Anthracite PVD -treated steel for the Dark version
Dimensions: Width: 42.49mm x length: 52.31mm x thickness: 14.79mm
Glass :   Sapphire crystal
Water resistance: Screw-lock crown.
Pressure tested at 5 ATM (50m)
STRAP
KISKA rubber strap

🔰Edition ❱❱❱ Only 50 Pieces

🔴 Price    
  • Titan version CHF 88,000 (Swiss francs / excl. tax)💰
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  • Dark version CHF 89,000 (Swiss francs / excl. Tax)💰
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---------------------------------
Press Release - 2024
--------------------------------------------
Media contact:
Ms Yacine Sar
Telephone: +41 22 900 2027
Mobile : +41 79 834 46 65 
------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - URWERK
-------------------------------------------------
www.Urwerk.com

Thursday, August 22, 2024

URWERK – EMC SR-71 Steel / Ttitanium Edition

 

URWERK UR-Chronometry EMC-SR71 Steel and Titanium Edition 2024

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 EMC SR-71, rebirth of a legend

It swept the award board. It was a double winner at the 2014 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the prestigious "Mechanical Exception" and "Innovation" categories. It was crowned "Watch of the Year" by Revolution Asia and "Best of the Best" by Robb Report USA. It has been praised by the press, endorsed by Philippe Dufour and remains incredibly present in horological minds ten years after its creation.

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To celebrate its decade in style, URWERK's EMC – for Electronic Mechanical Control – has been reinvented clad in the fuselage of the legendary SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft!

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The EMC is a mechanical watch whose concept and movement were envisioned, developed and created by URWERK in 2014. Its traditional functions – hours, minutes, seconds and power reserve – were complemented by an original, patented piece of information, the δ performance indicator. Thanks to this novel function, it is now possible, at the touch of a button, to assess the mechanical movement’s chronometric precision. 

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Urwerk – EMC Black (2014)

This innovation made the EMC – Electro-Mechanical Control – the first mechanism to enable its wearer to measure their watch’s performance in real time. What's more, armed with this information, they can adjust the setting of their watch to achieve the ultimate goal of perfect timekeeping. Watchmaking bliss at last within reach! The rest is history: a double win at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in two of its flagship categories, along with unanimous acclaim from the specialist press! From awards to recognition, it’s a great story and could have ended there.

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December 2020. Two enthusiasts turn up at URWERK’s HQ in Geneva. Their names are Jason Sarkoyan and Dr Roman Sperl. The first is an experienced watch collector and designer, with the EMC Black on his wrist. The other is none other than Dr Roman Sperl, an aeronautical engineer and the specialist in the field of the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest stealth aircraft ever built, capable of flying at Mach3+ (three times the speed of sound). Together they form Dreamland*. 

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They're crazy about fine mechanics, they understand URWERK's aspirations and above all, they share the same creative madness as the watch brand's designers. They have come with an idea in mind, a slightly wild one of the very kind the Maison likes to explore: to celebrate the EMC’s 10th anniversary with an exceptional model combining the best of strategic reconnaissance aviation – the SR-71 Blackbird – with the best of  EMC’s Haute Horlogerie concepts. They have a rare and priceless treasure in their possession: pieces of the SR-71 fuselage, made of titanium. The conversation quickly turns into freewheeling exchanges that would continue across time and distance, between Geneva, Zurich and New York. It would take three years before URWERK finally unveiled the EMC SR-71!

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 "It's a bit of an insane story, yet at the same time, stories born of passion are the most beautiful, don't you think?" enthuses Jason Sarkoyan. "I threw myself headlong into this adventure. All the more so because I could rely on the knowledge and experience of Dr Roman Sperl ("RoMiG21" on Instagram), a doctoral student at Munich Technical University and, above all, one of the world's leading aeronautics experts.”    

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This EMC SR-71 is now available as a ten-piece limited series 10th anniversary10 pieces – in a version enhanced by elements of the legendary aircraft's fuselage. This "improved" titanium has been melted down and then worked to reincarnate itself as a charging crank for the EMC's dynamo: "The layout of the screens composing the dial is reminiscent of the SR-71's cockpit instruments, and not without reason”, explains URWERK's artistic director and co-founder Martin Frei. "A watch, like an aircraft, is a machine that provides information about its performance. The watch face is a personal cockpit; in addition to the exact time, the EMC also provides information about how it works and how it is ‘piloted’. It's a unique and exciting experience. My fascination with all things science fiction, space travel and aviation made me particularly keen to work on this project with Jason and Roman from Dreamland.”

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The EMC SR-71 thus takes on the appearance of an instrument panel with four separate dials, two of which feature screw-down bezels. The emphasis is on the seconds indicator (dial at 2 o'clock), the tip of which is designed like a stealth aircraft. It is one of the EMC's flagship features, testifying to its smooth running and sense of precision. To its left – at 10 o'clock – the EMC's performance is displayed in seconds per day, while its power reserve appears below at 7 o'clock. At 5 o'clock, the classic hours and minutes are indicated by a set of hands. On the back of the EMC, its in-house movement is visible beneath a sapphire crystal.

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This in-house URWERK movement has been designed, developed and crafted in the URWERK workshops. Its performance is tested on four positions over a 30-day cycle to meet the most stringent standards for precision watches. "The SR-71 is a legendary aircraft, a competition beast designed to achieve the best performance. This is also the spirit in which we designed our EMC”, says URWERK’s master watchmaker and co-founder Felix Baumgartner. "These are two cutting-edge machines which, in order to perform at their best, need only to be steered by skilled hands.”

Its proven intrinsic qualities are based on the following characteristics:

⦁    Its original balance was made from ARCAP, an alloy favoured by URWERK for its non-magnetic and anti-corrosive properties. Its distinctive morphology was carefully calculated to improve its aerodynamics and minimise disturbances caused by air friction. This enables it to maintain optimum amplitude.

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⦁    Its drive unit providing the power takes the form of an imposing double barrel vertically mounted on a single shaft. This series-coupled twin barrel ensures the EMC's stable linear timing performance by endowing the EMC with an 80-hour power reserve.

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⦁    Its timing adjustment screw is accessible from the outside of the watch and enables extremely fine adjustments via the balance rate index regulator, by modifying the active length of the balance spring.

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All that remained to enable observation and evaluation of this all-mechanical movement was to develop its electronic complication and monitoring device. Olivier Evalet, a software developer with a passion for software and computer engineering, was heavily involved in the project: "The idea was to use precision optics, i.e. light, to measure the performance of the mechanical movement. Using a 16,000,000 Hz mega-quartz as a reference, the measurements obtained are accurate to within ten microseconds.”

The EMC control function is composed as follows:

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  • ⦁    An optical sensor linked to the balance wheel.
  • This sensor consists of a transmitter and a receiver positioned on either side of the balance. Its role is to record the oscillations of this organ operating at 28,800 vph (4 Hz) over a period of three seconds. This measurement is triggered manually by pressing a start button.
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Urwerk EMC Calibre UR-EMC
  • ⦁    A 16,000,000 Hz electronic oscillator
  • This provides the EMC’s benchmark timing rate. The performance of the EMC balance (4 Hz) is compared against this extraordinary oscillator to obtain the most accurate possible measurement.
  • ⦁    An integrated circuit
  • This calculator is capable of determining the differential (symbolised by the letter δ) between the movement's timing rate and that of the reference oscillator. Each microsecond difference between the two values is expressed as a gain or loss of a second per day of the movement’s timing rate. A variation of 0.0000014 of a second per half-vibration translates as a variation of one second per day.
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 ⦁    A manual-winding generator:
  • The EMC's monitoring unit (the optical sensor and the computer) is powered by a micro-generator made by Swiss company Maxon, famous for having developed the electromotors equipping the Mars rovers for NASA’s Pathfinder probe.
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 "EMC is an ode to the mechanical watch and to the watchmaker’s craft”, explains Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK.  "The mechanical watch is a sensitive organism and its movement’s timing rate fluctuates according to several parameters”, he continues. "These changes of pace and performance are perceptible to the watchmaker, who has all the equipment necessary for testing the accuracy of the movement. An amateur rarely has these tools. With the EMC, we give them the opportunity to dive into the heart of their watch, to see it live and evolve. “

Therein lies the entire concept behind the EMC. This new kind of mechanical watch has a threefold objective

 

  • ⦁    show the influence of external parameters (activity, temperature, pressure) on the balance-spring mechanism;
  • ⦁    correct these timing variations at source, provide flexibility and achieve the best possible chronometric performance;
  • ⦁    enable exchanges and encourage interactivity between a timepiece and its owner, as the wearer of the watch also becomes its precision timer.

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"This EMC adopts the bold design and matte black fuselage of the legendary SR-71 Blackbird. This prestigious collaboration is the perfect blend of horological excellence and aeronautical engineering. The new edition of the EMC not only measures time with unrivalled precision, it also captures the SR-71’s spirit of speed and stealth. It's a unique and exhilarating experience”, explains URWERK’s co-founder and artistic director Martin Frei.

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Watchmaking bliss, enhanced by the power and elegance of the SR-71, is finally within reach. URWERK invites you to discover this limited edition, a symbol of innovation and perfection!

 ==========================
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: Electronic Mechanical Control

Model: EMC SR-71 Ttitanium-Steel Edition

Case    
Material:  Titanium and steel
Crank handle in SR-71 alloy
(titanium; aluminium; vanadium; silicon; iron and molybdenum)
Dimensions :  Width 47.55mm; length: 49.57mm; thickness: 17.58mm
Crystal:    Crystal sapphire
Water resistance    Pressure tested to 30m / 3ATM
Finishing:  Shot-blasting
Movement    
Caliibre:    UR-EMC
; in-house URWERK movement
Escapement:    Swiss lever escapement
Balance:    ARCAP P40; URWERK balance coupled with optical sensor
Frequency:    28,800 vph – 4 Hz  
Balance spring:    Flat
Energy source:    Vertically mounted series-coupled double mainspring barrels
Power reserve:    80 hours
Winding:    Manual winding
Finishing:    Côtes de Genève; snailing; micro bead-blasting; chamfered screw heads
Artificial intelligence    
Generator:    Manual-winding Maxon® generator
Monitoring organ:  Optical sensor linked to the mechanical balance;  16,000,000 Hz electronic oscillator
oscillator
Electronic circuit
Indications
Hours; minutes; seconds; δ performance indicator (patented); power reserve; timing adjustment screw.
Strap
NATO strap (nylon, leather) inspired by aeronautical safety straps. Velcro fastening. 


🔰Edition ❱❱❱ Only 10 Pieces
🔴 Price   CHF 150,000 (Swiss francs / tax not included) 💰


---------------------------------
Press Release - 2024
--------------------------------------------
Media contact:
Ms Yacine Sar
Telephone: +41 22 900 2027
Mobile : +41 79 834 46 65 
------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - URWERK
-------------------------------------------------
www.Urwerk.com

Friday, April 28, 2023

URWERK – UR-100V “Magic T” Edition

 

URWERK UR-SATELLITE UR-100VMagic TTitanium Automatic Edition 2023

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OR WHEN URWERK REVISITS THE PRINCIPLES OF MINIMALISM

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After the black of carbon and the muted grey of raw titanium, URWERK continues to explore these ‘cold’ colours that come to life under the light and enlighten the informed eye. 

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More than just work on colour, the new UR-100V Magic T is about research into nuances, reflections and chromatic subtleties. 

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It features a luminous and intense metallic grey, now delicately nestled on the wrist. From case to bracelet, this UR-100V Magic T is all about titanium and pure magic.

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Like a blank page, the UR-100V lends itself to all its creators’ desires and fanciful touches. "The look of this 100 collection offers scope for endless interpretations”, explains URWERK's artistic director and co-founder Martin Frei. “We have created a watch that assumes the role of our 'classic'. A versatile timepiece that changes mood and appearance over time. And even though I am one of its creators, I perpetually discover and rediscover it in its different variations, always with the same impatience and the same pleasure", he concludes.

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"This UR-100V Magic T fully deserves its nickname evoking the magic of titanium. This material lends itself beautifully to the finest finishes. We have loved and admired raw titanium, and now we have it gleaming in full brilliance, thanks to light, refined shot-blasting. All the beauty of the metal is there. We also worked on the legibility of our timepiece, adding complexity to the dial that is now broken down into several elements to give it more structure. Try to distinguish between the many different levels of this 3D creation and you will discover that everything has been thought through right the way down to the smallest details, pushing the limits of perceptibility”, says Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK.

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Right from the outset, the 100 collection was conceived with simplicity and minimalism in mind. ‘Simple’ is an easily uttered word that nonetheless cannot totally reflect the full extent of Martin Frei's aesthetic linguistics and Felix Baumgartner's horological technicality. 

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The former plays with shapes, creating a design vocabulary that is a living language. The latter constantly reinvents new ways of bringing to life URWERK wandering hours – the principle of hands-free hours and minutes display based on satellites moving along a graduated arc of a circle. 

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 A first carries the hours and the other the minutes. And when one hours satellite has completed its 60 minutes, the next one bearing the next hour appears in front of the number zero minutes index.

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No one would have imagined that this principle, extrapolated from a 17th century clock, could be explored, transformed and transmuted with such creativity in space, volume and time. URWERK's capacity for reinvention without ever deviating from its fundamental principles is doubtless the core reason behind its longevity. 

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 Demonstrating a strong sense of nuance, the UR-100V Magic T can logically be compared to a ‘colour exploration vehicle’. In the metaphorical sense, it is just as much so as its predecessors; while aesthetically speaking, many of its details relate to celestial bodies.

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Even more explicitly than all other URWERK creations, the UR-100V is entirely bound up with the realm of space. Not just because its design can be described as that of an UFO

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 Not merely because its impossible-to-categorise design evokes a whole different dimension beyond the boundaries of current watchmaking. It bears two long recesses on the sides of its satellite carrier. 

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  The first is a counter for kilometres – those travelled by the Earth along its own axis in 20 minutes, namely 555. The other also counts kilometres – this time those travelled by the Earth around the Sun during the same period of time, namely 35,740

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The UR-100V thus bear witness to the Earth’s trajectory through the interstellar void, where our blue planet is accompanied by a Magic T-coloured heavenly body. 

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 ==========================
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: UR-SATELLITE

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Model: UR-100V Magic T” Automatic Edition

Movement
Caliber: UR 12.02 self-winding mechanical movement regulated by Windfänger Planetary Turbine Automatic System
Jewels: 39
Frequency: 28,800 vph - 4Hz
Power reserve: 48
hours
Materials: Satellite hours on beryllium-bronze Geneva crosses; aluminium carousel; carousel and triple baseplates in ARCAP alloy
Finishes
: Circular graining, sanding, shot-blasting, circular satin finishing
Chamfered screw heads
Hours and minutes painted in Super-LumiNova®
Indications:     
    Satellite hours; minutes
    Rotational distance at the Equator in 20 minutes
    Orbital distance in 20 minutes
Case
Materials: Sanded shotblasted titanium.;Sanded shotblasted titanium crown
Dimensions: Width 41 mm; length: 49.7 mm; thickness: 14 mm
Crystal domed transparent sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 3 ATM (30 m - 3 bar)
Strap and buckle
Titanium, with 32 sanded shot-blasted links


🔴 Price   CHF 58,000 (Swiss francs / tax not included) 💰


---------------------------------
Press Release - 2023
--------------------------------------------
Media contact:
Ms Yacine Sar
Telephone: +41 22 900 2027
Mobile : +41 79 834 46 65 
------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - URWERK
-------------------------------------------------
www.Urwerk.com