URWERK UR-230 Eagle

URWERK's UR-230 "Eagle" takes off again.

The UR-200 family takes flight to new heights: double turbine with variable geometry, double shock absorber, hybrid winding system. The UR-7.30 caliber extends the wings of URWERK’s mechanical possibilities. This UR-230 “Eagle” is also distinguished by a physical metamorphosis, including the development of a CTP carbon case with a mobile cover. Added to this are aerodynamic lines, a streamlined profile and bird-of-prey measurements.
The UR-230 “Eagle” is a highly sophisticated, highly desirable animal, produced in a limited series of 35.

The URWERK 200 collection is growing. The latest addition is the UR-230 “Eagle”. This model is distinguished by its exterior, its design and its mechanics. The latest in the URWERK line of satellite display watches with vagrant hours and retrograde minute hands has benefited from an engine upgrade and a high-tech makeover: “It’s already been ten years since the success of the UR-220, and we wanted a creation with a strong personality to take over from it,” explains Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK. The UR-230 “Eagle” is all about performance. URWERK’s signature turbines have been further improved. Today we unveil a model whose robustness has been boosted by technology.”

From the UR-220, the new UR-230 “Eagle” retains the display concept. It is a sophisticated version of the wandering satellite hours that are one of URWERK’s essential signatures. On a three-armed carrousel, four-sided rotating blocks carry the hour markers. They scroll along a 120-degree sector, with the current hour face facing the viewer. To display the minute, these display cubes are embedded in an aluminum 3D retrograde hand. At the end of its 60-minute stroke, this skeletonized hand is returned to index 0, where it takes over the cube displaying the next hour. Martin Frei, Artistic Director and co-founder of URWERK, comments: “We are proud to present the UR-230, the latest addition to our emblematic 200 line, launched in 2006 – 2007 with the UR-201 “Hammerhead”. Since then, our relentless quest for innovation has led us to rethink this collection, while preserving its energy and strength. We’ve evolved the concept, the grace of the predator, but in a different register. We created the “Maltese Falcon” and the “Peregrine”, watches that resemble a bird of prey with their powerful retrograde system. Today, we unveil our UR-230 “Eagle”. This new UR-230 comes in a complex half-savonnette case (with protective cover) made of finely laminated carbon. The UR-230 is light and strong. It deserves to bear the name of the king of the air.

Dynamic brake

In addition to this time display, the UR-230 “Eagle” adds new features. In a world first, URWERK has developed a set of shock absorbers designed to protect the new UR-7.30 caliber. By means of turbines. A first set of turbines is dedicated to attenuating the impact of any external shock, guaranteeing the watch’s robustness and durability. A second set controls the flow of air that feeds the winding system. The strength of this “Air brake”, designed to modulate winding power according to the wearer’s level of activity, is set by a rotary knob on the same back.

A second switch opposite the first allows the rotor to be completely disconnected. The UR-230 “Eagle” then switches to manual winding mode. The level of adjustment of these two functions is indicated by two symmetrical indicators under the CTP carbon cover, at 11 and 1 o’clock respectively.

Heart and body

From the UR-200 collection, the UR-230 “Eagle” has retained the shape of the case. A trapezoidal shape with a pronounced elongation towards 6 o’clock, a staggered layout around the sapphire apertures, a crown at 12 o’clock, fine management of marked and softened angles: the UR-230 “Eagle” asserts its fundamentally URWERK nature. Its case is once again made of the material offering the best weight/stiffness/graphic effect ratio: CTP carbon.

Black, light and rigid, this carbon is machined in superimposed strata, bonded under high temperature and pressure. The resulting block is then worked into the mass, following a pattern that reveals the layers in a regular, controlled geometric pattern. The base is made of black DLC titanium, grooved and perfectly dermo-compatible. Inside the case, the UR-230 “Eagle” encloses its UR-7.30 caliber in a hermetically sealed container like a safe.

Beak and clamps

UR-230 “Eagle” features a cover that lifts 90 degrees to reveal the entire satellite system. This cover is designed to protect the sapphire crystal. “We created a shock-protection system for the movement and another for the sapphire crystal,” explains Felix Baumgartner. This cover generated a stream of technical difficulties for the adjustment and connection of the drawings between cover and case. Its integrated brake system was also tested and adjusted to total satisfaction. The UR-230’s hood closes with a pleasant ‘click’. The cover is also made of CTP carbon mixed with titanium. A beak-shaped edge provides a finger grip for lifting. When reinstalled, a braking device slows its travel so that it rests gently on the sapphire crystal. It then clips into place. Like an eagle whose talons seize its prey in mid-flight, silent and fearsomely precise.