URWERK UR-210 with Winding Efficiency Indicator

URWERK just released a brand new watch, the UR-210. It looks like the wrist version of the UR-1001 pocket watch and adds another very cool indicator that shows you the efficiency of winding of the past 2 hours. 

The combined knowledge of the power reserve indicator and the winding efficiency indicator enable you to know whether it’s time to start moving your arm or… to adjust the ‘winding efficiency selector’. With this selector the winding efficiency of the UR-210 can be adjusted to your level of activity!

The new UR-210 will be available for 137,000 CHF (before taxes) and the first 10 pieces will be at the known retailers sometime in October.

Here is the press release:

The dial of the UR‐210 features a traditional power reserve indication at one o’clock. In a near mirror image at 11 o’clock we find a similar indication. No, it isn’t a duplicate fail‐safe, but something much more important which deserves our full attention, because it is actually a world‐first complication that indicates winding efficiency over the last two hours.

When you are comfortably nestled in your armchair, the indicator will be tending towards the red zone to tell you that your UR‐210 is not being wound enough by its automatic rotor and is running on stored energy. However, if you are moving around energetically, the indicator will point towards the green zone, a sign that you are replenishing your watch with new energy. This entirely new indication does not measure mainspring torque, but calculates the difference between the consumed and generated energy of the mainspring.

Armed with knowledge of both winding efficiency and available power reserve, you are now able to intervene. If your UR‐210 indicates an insufficient supply of energy, you can position the winding efficiency selector (at the back of the watch) to “FULL”.

The rotor will then convert the slightest movement into stored energy. In this configuration, a turbine connected to the rotor provides smooth, unimpeded power. But if you are more active, then that may provide more power than required and unnecessarily wear the mechanism. In that case, you would position the winding efficiency selector to “REDUCED” to engage the rotor damping system. An air turbine compressor mounted on ruby bearings spins and creates internal resistance – enough friction to slow down or dampen the automatic winding rotor. In “STOP” mode, the automatic winding system is disabled completely and the UR‐210 runs off reserve power and may require manual winding.

Back to the dial side, the UR‐210’s satellite complication with retrograde minute is both highly original and totally explosive. The principal feature is a high‐tech, oversized, three‐dimensional retrograde minute hand. Its function is to enclose the hour satellite and indicate the time as it transverses the 0‐to‐60‐minute scale. This one‐hour journey through time, tracing an arc of 120°, is smooth and fluid. But the true nature of the piece is revealed at the end of the 59th minute. Then a sharp distinct “click” signals the return of the minute hand to its starting point. In less than 0.1 of a second the hand flies back to dock with the next hour satellite.

“In terms of the degree of evolution of the satellite carousel, I feel with the UR‐210 that we have reached the pinnacle of what we can do with this complication.” explains Felix Baumgartner. “After the presentation of our über complicated UR‐1001 Zeit Device, we wanted to experiment again on an imposing scale. The minute hand in the heart of the UR‐210 is not just big, it is massive! And yet it presented us with a considerable challenge because it requires fine, delicate workmanship. It envelops the hour satellites and demands machining to extremely fine tolerances.”

Martin Frei adds: “More than any other URWERK piece, the UR‐210 catches the attention. The eye is inevitably drawn to the winding efficiency indicator… it’s almost a magnetic attraction. The UR‐210 is not really a watch but rather a living mechanism grafted onto your wrist. We have nicknamed the UR‐210 the Maltese Falcon because we see it as the stuff that dreams are made of.”

Felix Baumgartner concludes: “The UR‐210 represents a serious accomplishment for URWERK. This timepiece opens a new chapter in the evolution of our complications. It doesn’t just measure a universal value in a completely original way, but starts a real dialogue between the watch and its wearer. The UR‐210 indicates your personal activity; this is yours and nobody else’s.”

UR‐210 ‐ Technical Specifications

Case

• Material: Titanium and steel
• Dimensions: Width 43.8mm, length 53.6mm, thickness 17.8mm

Movement

• Caliber: UR‐7.10
• Jewels: 51
• Escapement: Swiss Lever
• Balance: Monometallic
• Frequency: 28,800v/h, 4Hz
• Balance spring: Flat
• Power source: Single mainspring barrel
• Power reserve: 39 hours
• Winding system: Self‐winding coupled to turbines
• Materials: Plate in ARCAP P40; 3D minute hand in aluminum with brass counterweight; central cylindrical spiral in spring‐steel; hour satellites in aluminium; central carrousel and screws in Titanium Grade 5.
• Surface finishes: Circular graining, sandblasted, circular and straight satin‐finished plate; satin‐finished and diamond‐polished satellites; beveled and polished screw heads.
• Indications: Patented revolving satellite complication with wandering hour and three‐dimensional retrograde minute hand; power reserve indicator; winding efficiency indicator (patent pending). Super‐LumiNova treatment on markers, dials, indexes, hands, and satellites.

Controls

• Two‐position winding crown
• On the back: winding efficiency selector

More information can be found on the URWERK website and on their official Facebook page.