URWERK
Conceptually, Urwerk is cut from similar cloth as MB&F, with a mission to make timekeeping machines for the wrist that are as far from traditional analog design as technically possible. Founded in 1997 by the visionary pair of watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and designer Martin Frei, Urwerk’s visual stock-in-trade is the use of orbiting satellites on a three-armed carousel to display the hour rather than hands, often in conjunction with an unconventional retrograde minutes indications along a scale. Urwerk has applied versions of this innovative timekeeping tech to various timepieces in a number of executions and materials — black PVD-coated platinum, gunmetal-toned titanium, and the yellow-gold, Star Wars-inspired UR-100 “C-3PO” edition, to name just a few.
Founded: 1997
Headquarters: Carouge, Switzerland
Ownership: Private (Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, founders)
Notable models: UR-101, UR-102, UR-103
Did you know: The brand name is derived from "Ur," the ancient Mesopotanian city where time units were first measured, and "werk," the German term for a watch's movement
History of Urwerk
On December 31st, 1995, Martin Frei organized a New Year party for students in a squat in Lucerne. He had invited his friend Christoph Draeger, who brought his cousin, Felix Baumgartner, a watchmaking apprentice. Shortly before midnight, the party was in full swing, with everyone dancing and shouting. However, Martin and Felix had found each other and were in a deep philosophical conversation about time and its perception.
The rest, as they say, is history. Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei presented their first watch during the Baselworld watch fair in 1997, and since then, the brand has created numerous timepieces that always challenge the way we read time. The brand now employs 16 people and produces 150 watches a year.
The name Urwerk is a play on the German word for clockwork “Uhrwerk.” The “Ur” comes from the ancient Sumerian city known for its large sundials, and the “werk” comes from the German word for “work” or “creation.”
