Urwerk
Urwerk is a watchmaking company, created in 1995 at a meeting of the two brothers, Felix and Thomas Baumgartner, both watchmakers, and their friend Martin Frei, an artist and designer.[1] Their goal is the development and new conception of expensive watches. The company is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The name
The name is creative and consists of two parts. Ur is an ancient Sumerian city of Ur, where people over 6000 years ago used giant sundials to measue time. Werk means to work, create, evolve, shape, etc. in the German language. It is also a play on the German word "Uhrwerk", which is the German word for the movement used in watches.
Watch models
- 1997 Launch of their first watch named "101" (gold) and "102" (steel) at Basel with the AHCI.
- 2003 Presentation of their new watch "103" with its orbiting satellites at Basel which caught the attention of "Harry Winston Rare Timepieces". On the "103", four orbiting and rotating satellites display the hours, with each satellite indicating the time in both analogue and digital fashion as it arcs across the minute chapter.[2]
- 2004 Urwerk begins work on the watch model of Opus V in partnership with Harry Winston.[3]
- 2005 Launch of the watch model "103.03".
- 2007 Launch of their newest watch model "201" at Geneva Fairs. Time on the "201" is displayed by using telescopic minute hands operating through the middle of three orbiting and revolving hour satellites. The telescopic minute hands precisely adjust their length to follow the three vectors marking the minutes: 0–14, 15–44, 45–60. Extended, they enable the 201 to display the time across a large, easy-to-read dial. Retracted, they allow for a very wearable sized case, thus providing the wearer with both capabilities.
- 2009 Urwerk unveils the UR103t (The Tarantula).[4] The Tarantula won top prize in the category of Best Sports Watch at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie Asia competition, held on September 25, 2009, in Singapore. Urwerk also won the Best In Design category at the same awards for the Urwerk CC1.
References
External links