Monochrome Watches » Urwerk

Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve Award winners at Salon de Belles Montres

mono — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:49:25 +0000

Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve Award winners at Salon de Belles Montres is a post from: Monochrome.nl

And the winner is… De Bethune with the DB28. The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is more or less the Oscars of the watch industry and the De Bethune DB28 won the Aiguille d’Or which can be seen as the most important prize. This weekend all winning timepieces will be on exposition at Salon de Belles Montres in Paris.

Besides the Aiguille d’Or (the golden hand) prizes where awarded in many other categories, just like at the Oscars. It must be said that the De Bethune DB28 is a remarkable watch and I’m not surprised it won. Technically at the forefront, a futuristic design and ergonomically unmatched.

De Bethune is a brand that is very different from other watch brands, or perhaps even very different from the entire watch industry. The relatively small manufacture is in the Swiss Jura and is run by David Zanetta and technical director (master watchmaker) Denis Flageollet. Although De Bethune is a relatively small independent brand, they keep amazing watch collectors with a constant stream of innovations. Besides the innovations at the technical side, they also innovate on the design side and aren’t scared to come up with a magnificent new case that is the most comfortable I’ve ever tried on my wrist.

The persons who handed over the award where Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey who won the Aiguille d’Or last year for their Double Tourbillon 30 degrees Edition Historique. Another independent watch brand that pushes the boundaries of technical innovation and sets new limits for the beauty of finishing.

Besides the Aiguille d’Or there where prizes in other categories as well. Audemars Piguet won the Public Prize for the Millenary 4101, a well deserved prize for Audemars Piguet. Although the Millenary 4101 is maybe not the ‘talk of the town’ on the internet, we’ve always noticed that whenever we wrote about the Millenary, like our review of the fabulous Millenary Star Wheel, the responses where surprised and very positive.

Another magnificent prize winner, is made by Hermès. Not the usual watch brand however they are making very interesting timepieces and their new Arceau Le Temps Suspendu is not only beautiful, it has a very interesting feature to stop time How? Well, check out our report on the Arceau Le Temps Suspendu.

Personally, I would have had a hard time choosing between Laurent Ferrier‘s Galet Micro-rotor (left) or Kari Voutilainen’s Vingt-8 (right on the photo below) as best men’s watch. Both are extraordinary beautiful and elegant men’s watches and both have a movement that is simply stunning.

When it comes to design, there are several young and innovative watch brands who do such a great job. They know how to show us time in an unusual but very refreshing way. After Vianney Halter (awarded as Best Watchmaker), URWERK was also one of the first to shock the watch industry, and many collectors, with their out-of-the-box approach to telling time. URWERK winning the DesignWatch award for the stunning UR-110, is something that is simply meant to be and also very well deserved!

In order not to be distracted by the marvelous techniques, the UR-110 can comfortably be worn under the sleeve and it’s easy to let just a small part peek from under your sleeve to read the time.

The Petit Aiguille was won by Montblanc for the Star Worldtime GMT Automatic, a very nice watch that I saw at the SIHH earlier this year. A very nice execution of a Worldtime GMT watch and especially on the steel bracelet it looks ver nice.

At the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève website you can see all winners in all categories and find much more information, even from previous years. Here is the list with this years winners:

“Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix: De Bethune, DB28
Best Ladies Watch Prize: Boucheron, Hathi
Best Men’s Watch Prize: Hermès, Arceau Le Temps Suspendu
Best Design Watch Prize: Urwerk, UR-110
Best Jewellery and Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: Van Cleef & Arpels, Lady Arpels Polar Landscape
Best Complicated Watch Prize: Zenith, Academy Christophe Colomb Equation of Time
Best Sports Watch Prize: TAG Heuer, Mikrotimer Flying 1000 Chronograph
“Petite Aiguille” Prize (for models under CHF 5’000): Montblanc, Star Worldtime GMT Automatic
Best Watchmaker Prize: Vianney Halter
Special Jury Prize: Patek Philippe Museum
Public Prize: Audemars Piguet, Millenary 4101

If you’re in Paris or in the position to visit Paris in the next few days, you can see all the winning timepieces at Salon de Belles Montres. Salon Belles Montres is from Friday 25th until Sunday 27th of November in the Louvre in Paris.

The über-cool URWERK UR-1001 Pocket Watch

mono — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:21:44 +0000

The über-cool URWERK UR-1001 Pocket Watch is a post from: Monochrome.nl

Sometimes time can pass you by at an unexpected moment. An hour ago we posted our analyses based on the teaser photos of URWERK’s new UR-1001 and now it has been released. So no more guessing… it’s a pocket watch indeed!

An hour ago we posted the teaser photos of the new URWERK UR-1001 and concluded it would be a pocket watch with perpetual calender. We where only partially correct… it is a pocket watch, it does have a calendar and it does have a oil change indicator. However no perpetual calendar as we asumed based on the teaser photos. Here is the UR-1001 Zeit Device…

The UR-1001 looks über-cool. This is a kind of pocket watch that we would wear because it looks simply magnificent. At the dial side it tells the time, date, month, day/night and the remaining power reserve. The power reserve indicator is positioned at the upper right corner and let’s you know how much of the 39 hours of power reserve are remaining.

The calendar only needs adjustment at the end of February. The month indicator automatically adjusts the last date on the calendar complication according to whether it has 30 or 31 days. At the end of months with 30 days (April, June, September and November) the date advances automatically to the 1st of the following month.

Here’s the tech-talk: The date wheel has 93 teeth and goes around in three months carrying the three-armed carousel. Mounted on the date wheel are three Maltese crosses, each corresponding to a satellite of four months at the opposite end of the date wheel. At the end of the short months, a finger on a Maltese cross intervenes to make the date wheel advance two days to the next month.

The minute hand is a retrograde hand and it is not fixed on the 3 revolving hour satellites like on the other UR-200 models. This is also means that once the hand has reached the 60th minute of the hour, it “flies back” to the zero position and meets the next hour at that position.

Here is the more techincal explanation… The hour hand is fixed to a sprung ring around the circumference of the satellite complication. This ring is pushed along a guide rail by the hour satellite. A swan’s neck spring on each arm of the carrousel engages two coaxial star-cams that slide along the guide rail carrying the minute hand. When the minute hand gets to the end of the rail at 60 minutes, the star-cams trip over to release the minute hand, which springs back to zero at the start of the scale where it rendezvous with the next satellite hour. A small bar of platinum on the sprung ring acts as a counterweight to the minute hand pointer. A safety device ensures that the minute hand cannot rotate past 63 minutes, even in case of a shock.

Above 60 minute point is the day/night indicator, which is in fact a rotating disk marked with Super-Luminova for the night, white brushed-ruthenium for day and a striped mix for dusk/dawn.

At the back side is the (for URWERK) typical oil change indicator. It is not one oil change indicator, there are actually three. The shortest time interval measured on the back is the 5-year oil change indicator at centre right. This one indicates when a service is due and the makrkers from 3-5 years are in red to indicate a service is due (relatively) soon. After service this is counter is reset to zero.

The next indicator is a 100 year indicator and this one advances in 5-year steps and let’s you keep track of the years the UR-1001 has been running. When the hand reaches the 100-year mark, the small pointer at the bottom of the 1000-year indicator on the left takes a small 100-year step upwards on its imperceptibly slow, but deliberate journey to a new millennium. So you and your offspring can keep track of the first thousand years the UR-1001 has been running. Let’s hope URWERK is still around to reset it after the first 1,000 years

For more information (including the techincal info in detail) you can visit the URWERK website or check out the URWERK Facebook page.

The new URWERK UR-1001 Zeit Device – a pocket watch with perpetual calendar?

mono — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:05:45 +0000

The new URWERK UR-1001 Zeit Device – a pocket watch with perpetual calendar? is a post from: Monochrome.nl

At this moment there are only teaser pictures, but they give a good indication of what URWERK’s newest timepiece will be… Let’s have a closer look!

I guess most of Monochrome’s long-term readers will immediately recognize URWERK’s indication of time on the photo below. It shows much resemblance with the UR-203 or UR-202 White Shark.

It looks like the crystal is wide where the hours and minutes are indicated, than it gets a little more narrow. When you look closely it seems the crystal gets wider again. OK, you really have to look for it, but the photo below seems to confirm my suspicion that the crystal gets wider again.

The photo above actually gives away much more than just the fact the crystal might be shaped as an “8″, which could indicate there’s more to see on the new UR-1001′s dial than the time. In the front you can see the “3″ as one of the hour indicator, however what is visible behind that is much more interesting.

You can see “JAN” and there appears to be “JUN” upside down as well. the new UR-1001 will have a calendar function! Our guess it will be URWERK-style, months pointing at the day of the month. Will it be an annual calendar or a perpetual? If it’s a perpetual calendar one would expect a leap year indicator. Now the numerals “3″ and “4″ (photo below) could well be part of a leap year indicator…

But there’s more… On Revo-Online’s URWERK forum are more teaser photos that we will try to analyse for you.

Here’s a crown in the UR-200 collection style, which also looks to be positioned at the ‘normal’ 12 o’clock position. There seems to be some sort of locking or protection construction around the crown and… a hole where for instance a chain could be attached. Will this be an URWERK pocket watch? I guess so.

The following photo shows a scale of 0 to 1000, but what would this scale indicate? URWERK fearured a 150 year ‘Horological Odometer’ or Oil Change indicator on the UR-200 collection. Will this be something similar? A 1,000 hours or 1,000 days or maybe 1,000 years oil change indicator?

We don’t know exactly what the new URWERK UR-1001 will look like, because it won’t be officially released until September 14th. The teaser photos that Ian Skellern posted at the Revo-Online URWERK forum do give us a good impression. We think the new URWERK UR-1001 Zeit Device will be a watch that can be attached on a chain (pocket watch or desk watch) with a perpetual calendar.

Check out all teaser photos at the URWERK forum or on the URWERK Facebook page.

The very last URWERK UR-103 – UR-103 Phoenix

mono — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:48:06 +0000

The very last URWERK UR-103 – UR-103 Phoenix is a post from: Monochrome.nl

End of 2010 URWERK stopped production of the UR-103, their landmark timepiece. Especially for Only Watch 2011 the UR-103 rises from the ashes with the piece unique UR-103 Phoenix.

URWERK’s UR-103 shocked and amazed watch lovers, collectors and aficionados when it was released in 2003. Its design and way to display time wasn’t entirely unique, but the total package was! Old pocket watches and even the contemporary Audemars Piguet Starwheel featured similar ways to display the minutes and hours. But the combination with URWERK’s technical innovations and the very unusual case where never seen before and made a lasting impression on the history of watchmaking.

For Only Watch 2011 an URWERK UR-103 was engraved by master engraver Jean-Vincent Huguenin, who already created the UR-103 Edition Spéciale Art Deco in 2006. In this post and this post about the UR-103 Tarantula, you can read about how the hour-satellites move around the dial to display time.

And since this URWERK is not available anymore, for one time only the UR-103 rises from the ashes as the UR-103 Phoenix.

More information about URWERK can be found on their website and Facebook page. On the Only Watch website you can read more about this charity auction that will be held on September 23th 2011 in Monaco.

Weekly Watch Photo – URWERK 103

mono — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:27:25 +0000

Weekly Watch Photo – URWERK 103 is a post from: Monochrome.nl

Maybe it’s me, but I’m a sucker for nice wrist shots with bokeh. This shot of the URWERK 103 has all the features of a watch photo that make me enthusiastic. And a good reason to post about this magnificent watch!

URWERK was one of the first independent haute horlogerie brands that made stealthy, innovative and very remarkable watches and the UR-103 is in my opinion their ‘landmark’ piece. Watch aficionados from all over the world welcomed this model with enthusiasm and I wouldn’t be amazed if this was URWERK’s best selling model.

This UR-103 is not available anymore and was replaced by the UR-103 T, with a bigger crystal that revealed more of the orbital satellites. In my post about the URWERK UR-103 T I explained how the orbital satellite functions and indicate the time. There is however another side to this extraordinary timepiece, that is visible on its back side.

URWERK created a control board on the back of the UR-103, which was a world’s first for a wristwatch. This ‘dashboard’ features a 43-hour power reserve indicator, two indicators with minutes and seconds facilitating accurate time-setting, and a precision adjustment screw making it possible for the owner to precisely regulate the timing on their UR-103.

In 2010 URWERK released two new versions of the the UR103 T, the so-called Shiny-T and Mexican Fireleg, and also announced the end of the UR-103 collection. After seven years, at the end of 2010, production of this landmark for URWERK and also for independent haute horlogerie.

Can we still call this a wrist watch or is this art brought as a timepiece? One thing is for sure, the URWERK 103 is a very remarkable timepiece and now it is not available anymore it becomes very sought after.

Information about URWERK can be found on their website and official Facebook page.

URWERK releases UR-202S on bracelet

mono — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:34:34 +0000

URWERK releases UR-202S on bracelet is a post from: Monochrome.nl

The URWERK UR-202 got a make-over and is now released as UR-202S and comes on a bracelet. It’s is available in three version (gold, stainless steel and AlTiN) and altogether limited to 50 pieces. Is this the ultimate UR-202 Hammerhead?

The UR-202S, a.k.a. The Hammerhead, Full Metal Jacket is its full name. The UR-202 already had a limited version called White Shark (my favorite UR-202), that was only available from Chronopassion in Paris and direct from URWERK in Geneva. And now limited to 50 pieces in total with a choice of three versions; gold, AlTiN (Titanium Aluminium Nitride) coated stainless steel or polished stainless steel… all with matching metal bracelet!!

After the original UR-202, that was available in white gold, red gold and AlTiN (Titanium Aluminium Nitride), came a unique piece engraved by Jean-Vincent Huguenin and the limited to 20 pieces UR-203 (black PE-CVD coated platinum). Like the White Shark, the UR-202S has a lighter dial and this gives a sort of ‘lightness’ to this watch that has an immense ‘wrist-presence’. The bracelet, that was designed to match the watch, adds a sporty touch.

The “S” stands for Stripe, because it has a striped dial. Besides the stainless steel version the UR-202S is also available in AlTiN, a special alloy URWERK uses, and in gold. Below is the UR-202S in stainless steel with AlTiN coating. This coating gives the watch a very cool matte black look.

Technically the UR-202S is an absolute magical watch. It’s far from ordinary and through the huge sapphire crystal you can see the telescopic minute hands and revolving hour satellites moving. In a previous post about the UR-203 you can read all about how the watch works.

Also note the day & night indicator and moon phase indicator on the dial. Inside the UR-202S ticks calibre UR7.03 which has an automatic winding system. The uni-directional winding rotor is regulated by twin air turbines. These air turbines can be seen spinning on the back side of the watch and function as shock absorbers. A 3-way selector lever allows you to switch select between free, sport and stop. Besides that it looks cool, these turbines reduce wear and increase the lifespan of the movement!

Next Wednesday Baselworld 2011 starts and I hope to show you some wrist shots of the new UR-202S.

More information about URWERK can be found at the URWERK website and official Facebook page.

Monochrome’s Tour de Suisse part 2

mono — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:05:03 +0000

Monochrome’s Tour de Suisse part 2 is a post from: Monochrome.nl

Monochrome’s Tour de Suisse continues with more visits and meeting with the finest independent watchmakers. Kari Voutilainen, De Bethune, MB&F, Hautlence, URWERK, Ladoire and MCT Watches. And interesting mix of classical watchmaking and steampunk design.

In the following weeks I’ll write much more about these visits, so stay tuned.

Visiting Kari Voutilainen was on my wishlist for a long time. To me his watches are the most perfect classic handmade watches I have seen and his Observatoire is in my opinion the perfect dress watch. Simple yet intriguing. We where shown around in the beautiful house where the workshop and ateliers are as well. There will be news but we just have to wait a bit longer… but it’s well worth waiting for!

After the visit to Kari Voutilainen we drove up into the mountains to visit De Bethune. Maybe this brand is the perfect switch over from the classic design of Voutilainen’s watches to everything we will see the rest of the week. De Bethune started with rather classical designed watches, yet with something special. And that something special has grown to become an integral part of De Bethune’s design and watchmaking art. This for instance is one the De Bethune DB12 RT that’s for sale at a local watch store. Classic with a twist?

The next morning we were meeting with Max Busser of MB&F. MB&F as a young brand has made a progression that is almost impossible in watchmaking. Four entire collections and some special editions with more design change than just a different color of the dial. This very impressive achievement is because of Max Busser’s vision and drive. Of course he couldn’t do all of this alone so he had a little help from his friends (somehow this sentence makes me think of the Beatles). On the photo below I’m wearing the HM4 Thunderbolt… doesn’t it look great!

The tour continued to Neuchâtel to meet with Guillaume Tetu of Hautlence. Hautlence recently launched their HL2.0 which is a magnificent timepiece with equally magnificent looks and technique. Hautlence makes beautiful and extraordinary watches for a longer time already. I can still remember seeing the HL series with tv screen case for the first time, because it was so different from everything else I had seen until than. Here already a wristshot of the HL2.0… later more about this extraordinary timepiece!

I must say my head was spinning after seeing so many beautiful watches and this was not the end of the tour… The next morning we met with Yacine of URWERK to see the recently released CC1 in black.

Than we met with Lionel Ladoire and Richard Piras of Ladoire. Ladoire is a relatively new brand based in Geneva. The Ladoire Roller Guardian Time (RGT) is a bold statement of how traditional watchmaking and funky modern design can be mixed. Just look how the Ladoire RGT Black & Black look on Lionel’s wrist, showing the beautiful RGT buckle V.1 on the other wrist.

And last but definitely not least, we met with MCT Watches. Denis Giguet, founder of MCT Watches talked about the Sequential One, the new All Black and new timepieces that will be released. Again a relatively new watch brand and again a brand with an innovative drive that is just spectacular.

My sincerest thanks to Ian Skellern for organizing the meetings and letting me use some of his photos!

Visiting independent watchmakers

mono — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:30:07 +0000

Visiting independent watchmakers is a post from: Monochrome.nl

From Saturday 21th of August until Thursday the 26th I’m going to Switzerland visiting many independent watchmakers. And of course you can read all about the meetings and news the watchmakers want to share, here on Monochrome.

Worldwide there are a few dozen of independent watchmakers who really make extraordinary watches, at least in my opinion. This weekend I will visit Thomas Prescher and finally get to see his amazing single axis, double axis and even triple axis tourbillon watches. In the month of August Thomas Prescher welcomes visitors to his atelier in Twann, Switzerland. At his Facebook page he posted this offer, a tour and the possibility to discover yourself how a timepiece is developed, produced, assembled and regulated from scratch. Or from raw pieces of metal to pure horological art. This is an opportunity I couldn’t resist of course!

Ian Skellern, a well known journalist on Haute Horlogerie, was so kind to help me organize this trip and will be joining me for most of the visits. Ian writes for several magazines and websites and is the moderator of several forums at Revolution Online, the former Horomundi forum.

Monday morning we will visit Peter Speake-Marin, a great watchmaker and a true gentleman. Last year Speake-Marin presented his new, self developed, movement, calibre SM2. Developing a movement isn’t a small thing, however for a small independent watchmaker it’s an immense tour-de-force. The first watches who carried this beautiful and robust movement where the Piccadilly 1 in 12 Limited Edition.

Later that day the tour continues to La Chaux-de-Fonds where Greubel Forsey have their spectacular new manufacture. And even more spectacular are their timepieces. Their watches are not only impressive from the outside (look at the case of the Tourbillon 24 Secondes or the Quadruple Tourbillon) but the movement and degree of finish is also very impressive.

And the tour continues, as do the visits to the most impressive watchmakers of these times. Kari Voutilainen, a Finnish watchmaker living in Switzerland and creator of one of the most beautiful dress watches i have ever seen, the Observatoire. The case, dial, hands and the Observatory calibre Peseux… sheer beauty. Of course Kari Voutilainen creates more beautiful watches like this magnificent Decimal Repeater No 8.

De Bethune is an independent watch brand and they are technologically very innovative. And let’s be honest… the design is some models is also on the cutting edge of innovation. Just take a look at the pherical moonphase and how the movement is visible at the dial side. I was so lucky to try this De Bethune DBS on my wrist at a local watch-store. A rare opportunity as watches of De Bethune are hard to find.

And the tour goes on…. Hautlence will release the new HL2.0 at the coming watch fairs, but maybe we get the chance to make some live photos of their new masterpiece. Of course I hope to see some of their older models, which i think are absolutely stunning.

The last day of my trip to Switzerland will be another day of visiting the most beautiful independent watch brands. URWERK is a brand I have written much about in the past and I’m very curious if there’s maybe some news. Especially because the production of the 103 collection will stopped soon. Here’s a photo of the URWERK 103T Tarantula that I made during Baselworld 2009. The best way to see a watch is on the wrist

Ladoire, a new independent watch brand, was established in 2007. During Baselworld 2010 we met for a brief moment and I got to see the some of their watches. After this trip I’m sure I can tell you much more… and show some photos.

The last independent watch brand I will visit is MCT Watches. The design and the way to show the time is incredibly smart and innovative. Recently I wrote about the Sequential One‘s design and innovative way to display time. And if you’re too lazy to read… there’s always the video Check it out!

Pretty soon they will launch an the Sequential One All Black, so hopefully I will get to see it. But for now… a wristshot of the Sequential One in rose gold.

URWERK Cobra CC1 on the wrist

mono — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:03:21 +0000

URWERK Cobra CC1 on the wrist is a post from: Monochrome.nl

Wristshots of the URWERK UR-CC1 Cobra give a good idea of how it looks on the wrist. Just take a look and judge for yourself.

Horomundi’s moderator Ian Skellern recently visited Martin Frei, one of the co-founders of URWERK and chief designer, at his atelier in Zürich. Ian, who’s moderator of the URWERK forum at Horomundi, posted an extensive report of his visit which is well worth reading and viewing, however be warned because it got tons of photos. In an additional post he shows several wristshots of the UR-CC1 (nickname Cobra) on Martin’s wrist. Here are a a few of the photos and if you like to see more, i recommend to check them out at Horomundi’s URWERK forum.

It wasn’t until now, before i realized I never posted photos of this intriguing, retro-style, high-tech wristwatch. I’ll make it up to you in another post!

URWERK 202 White Shark

mono — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:37:04 +0000

URWERK 202 White Shark is a post from: Monochrome.nl

URWERK reveals the new UR-202 White Shark. A stunning limited edition of only 12 pieces, exclusively available from Chronopassion (Paris), The Hour Glass (Singapore) and of course URWERK.

The first line of the press release sounds just great: “Time is monochrome on the UR-202 White Shark”. With a website called Monochrome and being a fan of the unusual yet beautiful watches created by Martin Frei and Felix Baumgartner, I was delighted to hear about the new URWERK UR-202 White Shark.

The UR-202 White Shark’s monochrome design is the result of no use of any ‘make-up’, it’s only ornament is its technicality. URWERK has a huge reputation of using unordinary materials. The White Shark is made of titanium, steel and ARCAP, a combination of materials new to the 200 series!

The black numbers of the hours on the satellites stand out clearly against the light background. However one number of the 12 hour digits is not black, but red. This exception to the rule identifies the individual piece number in this limited edition of 12.

The way time is displayed is identical to the URWERK UR-203. The telescopic hour hands exist of three orbiting and revolving hour satellites. These hands precisely adjust their length to follow the three vectors marking the minutes: 0 -14, 15 – 44, 45 – 60. Because of the ability to retract, they allow for a very wearable and comfortably sized case. A moonphase and day/night indicator complete the dial.

Two turbines are visible on the back of the UR-202 White Shark and these are coupled to the rotor to regulate the winding system of the watch. The turbines are controlled by a three position selector lever. In mode”FREE”, the two turbines spin freely enabling maximum winding of the mainspring. In mode “Sport”, the two turbines spin with resistance, acting like pneumatic brakes that reduce the winding efficacy wound by 1/3rd. In mode “STOP”, the turbines are locked and block the rotor from winding at all, although the watch can still be manually wound if necessary.

The URWERK UR-202 White Shark is only available through Chronopassion in Paris (France), The Hour Glass (Singapore) and of course URWERK in Geneva.

You can read more about this ‘rare species’ at URWERK’s special website UR-RareSpecies.