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New URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone is dangerously disruptive and seductively futuristic

Let’s get this off the bat - the new 2020 watch release URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone is no ordinary watch. In-fact, come to think of it, no URWERK watch is your run-of-the-mill everyday watch.

New URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone is dangerously disruptive and seductively futuristic

Let’s establish this off the bat – the new 2020 watch release URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone is no ordinary watch. In fact, come to think of it, no URWERK watch is your run-of-the-mill everyday watch. 

Since 1997 the independent Swiss watchmaker’s name has been synonymous with pioneering innovation.

The UR-111C Two-Tone further cements that.

Bold meets Future meets Two-Tone

The defining aspect of this new release — actually a follow up to the one introduced in 2018 that came sans the brand’s signature satellite hour complication — is the striking Two-Tone (TT) black PVD and brushed steel, teardrop profile case. 

The watch is full of the design language of the “Special Projects” line and features the brand’s futuristic, bold and unique sense of time display. 

URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone
Courtesy © 2019 URWERK – All rights reserved

The Movement of the UR-111C TT

The heart used is a self-winding movement with stop seconds beating at the frequency of 4 Hz (28’800 V/h), featuring a water resistance of 30m (3 ATM) and an okay 48 hours power reserve. The movement has a Swiss lever escapement, an anodised aluminium cylinder, LIGA-processed nickel second wheels, and 37 jewels. 

All this is encased inside an overall bold and big watch made from black PVD and brushed steel that measures in at: width 42mm x length 46mm x thickness 15mm. 

URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone
Courtesy © 2019 URWERK – All rights reserved

Visually appealing, the watch has contrasting surface finishes — circular graining, sanding, Côtes de Genève, and polished screw heads — and the dial is covered with a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.

The Dial

The dial shows the following complications: 

  • Jumping hours
  • Retrograde linear minutes – they are displayed in an end-mounted driver’s watch style where the numerals are set in a 30° diagonal slant for better readability.
Sur111c Tt Lifestyle5
Courtesy © 2019 URWERK – All rights reserved

“… but having a watch with a second display was, for me, always important because that’s the way we see time passing, as we do with an hourglass. And I think the way the two wheels of the UR-111C’s seconds display fall into each other is like sand passing down through an hourglass. The display is a celebration of the second. Because at the end, it’s all about giving pleasure – haptic pleasure.” 

Martin Frei, artist, chief designer and co-founder of URWERK
  • Digital seconds – openwork Arabic numerals are set onto two wheels, each graduated in ten second increments.

The Standout Feature

The UR-111C introduces a fresh take on the crown by doing away with the conventional, side-mounted winder. Instead, the URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone introduces a roller system, positioned right across the middle of the case top.

URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone
Courtesy © 2019 URWERK – All rights reserved

“When we established URWERK we wanted to capture the excitement that comes from creating something new. It meant taking a fresh look at the wristwatch, not only a complex mechanism but also a source of pleasure. With the UR-111C we focused on one element of the watch that hasn’t changed since it was introduced in the 1840s — the winding crown. We completely redesigned it, changing the way a watch is wound. For this, we had to rework the entire winding train. It was a long and sometimes arduous process, but we succeeded. We devised a new way of interacting with a watch and a new bond between the watch and its owner.”

Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker, co-founder of URWERK

Watch Ya Gonna Do About It?

The new 2020 watch release URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone is dangerously disruptive and seductively futuristic.

Like all URWERK watches it is a larger than life statement piece showing that fine watchmaking is a constantly changing art. 

URWERK UR-111C Two-Tone
Courtesy © 2019 URWERK – All rights reserved

A watch strictly aimed at collectors, it is produced in limited numbers of 25 pieces costing 130’000 CHF (without tax).

Love it or hate it, call it a timepiece or a machine, the UR-111C TT is nothing that a traditional watch is expected to be, and more than anything a traditional can aspire to be. 

For more information on this watch and other URWERK watches, head to their website here.

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