URWERK: “Once Again, We Try to Engage all Your Senses.”
Martin Frei, URWERK’s co-founder and designer, is also a self-confessed victim of the lure of gold: “There’s always this little inner voice that reminds me how much I love this metal. Beyond the march of technology, changes in fashion, new functions, and new materials; gold is always gold. It’s forever. It’s the metal that lights me up.” The designer’s infatuation for the noblest of materials that live forever without a stain on their glory is how the UR-105 Raging Gold came to be. A shield of red gold carved in an intriguing pattern serves as the bezel on a titanium case.
“Once again, we try to engage all your senses,” explains Felix Baumgartner, URWERK’s co-founder and master watchmaker. “Our UR-105 “Raging Gold” should not only be a pleasure to look at, but a pleasure to touch. The lines and the texture of the case go back to classic principles. The pattern derives from the hobnail motif "Clou de Paris" that was popular in high-class watches. It's a little bit like my "Madeleine de Proust". Embed this little touch of history in a disruptive model gets me a thrill from bringing a conservative style to a revolutionary watch.” confesses Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK.
Theoretically, the UR-105 operates according to the wandering hour principle, which states that each hour travels in turn throughout a 60-minute arc. A mask constructed of PEEK, a semi-crystalline polymer, which conceals the hours that have finished their 60-minute patrol, makes it simpler for people to use this more intuitive and old method of telling the time. The mask is also exquisitely adorned in the right conventional manner.
This 105 version incorporates the latest developments in Urwerk’s constant efforts to add value to the wandering hour principle. The most intricate part of the mechanism, the carousel, which carries the hours in groups of three on four satellite discs, is hidden. It silently and unerringly brings the right hour to the right place at the right time. “In our earlier models,” recalls Felix Baumgartner, “the satellites were mounted on Maltese crosses and suspended from the rotating arms. We’ve found a way to improve on this idea. You can feel the result in your fingertips when you set the time. There’s no friction, no jolts, just the dance of the satellites. Our efforts have been absorbed into a much more fluid transmission.”
Turbines on the UR-105's rear manage the self-winding mechanism. When you set the lever to FULL, the winding rotor will wound the mainspring with the smallest movement you make. To prevent excessive mainspring stress, the rotor's motions are muted in the RED (reduced) mode. The watch's self-winding mechanism is disconnected in the STOP position, allowing the crown to be manually wound.
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