The Urwerk UR-220 Rides Off Into a Red-Gold Sunset

“…And that’s a wrap!” Today, the last representative of the 220 collection is being assembled in Urwerk's workshops.

This UR-220 Red Gold is sparkling and flamboyant. Its case has been forged in 4N gold and teamed with an immaculate white textured strap. All in all, a resolutely ’80s vibe.

Let's set the scene. Florida. Palm trees set against a cloudless sky. Flamingos frolicking in the sunshine. Idyllic scenery. And then everything speeds up. A synthesizer sets a hectic tempo for a sequence shot at the water's edge. Here in the marina, the sailboat is sparkling white and an alligator acts as a watchdog.

For fans of the 1980s, the references are crystal clear: Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs in “Miami Vice.” The golden tans of these hero police officers with their immaculate suits and Colgate smiles. The personification of success. These images had a lasting impact on an entire generation and featured two predominant colors: sparkling gold and virginal white.

Urwerk co-founder Martin Frei says: “Gold and white may seem an unlikely combination, yet the combo resonates deeply with me as a happy memory. I remember the super cool heroes of my teenage years that we all wanted to resemble. They were ruggedly handsome, and nothing could faze them. They would chase down criminals in their pristine loose-fitting suits, with their hair blowing in the wind and gold gleaming on their wrists. That was really the iconic image of the 1980s.

“And from this panoply, I was able to acquire the sunglasses. A must!” he concludes with a laugh.

Urwerk co-founder Felix Baumgartner insists on the contrast between the timeless gold and the modernity of the rubber: “This UR-220 Red Gold, which marks the end of a collection, is a powerful model endowed with strong character. It plays on striking, full-on contrasts. It's a great way to make a statement and wrap up this line with a clear-cut bias, a surprise ‘wow’ effect.”

One last time, a review of the characteristics that have made the 220 collection so successful.

Testing Instruments

Starting with the back of the watch. That of the UR-220 bears eloquent witness to the evolution in the line of the 200 modules. It bears one of the hallmarks of the Urwerk watchmaking style, the Oil Change feature. Urwerk returns to its first love and after a protracted absence reinstalls this indicator showing how long the watch has been operating. This unique information, which has long enriched models such as the UR-110, has undergone significant changes.

On the UR-220, the Oil Change takes the form of a digital gauge, whose unit is the month, indicated on two adjacent rollers. The wearer of the watch triggers this device by removing a protective pin and pressing a pusher on the back of to activate the counters, which display the mechanism’s accumulated running time of in months.

After 39 months (three years and three months) a service is recommended. When this is completed, the Urwerk team resets the counter and replaces the pin. It is a digital counter, which could imply just an alignment of units, a coldly calculated measurement, yet it actually testifies to personal attachment. The
Oil Change counts the hours the UR-220 has been on your wrist. “It gives visibility to all the energy you've put into it by conscientiously winding it,” Baumgartner says.

On the Carrousel

The UR-220 features Urwerk’s patented, revolving-satellite complication. The wandering hours are displayed on three rotating satellite cubes. They take turns slotting into a hollowed-out minutes hand. Together, they travel 120 degrees along the counter. When that hour-long journey ends, the hand makes a big jump back to the "0" marker to accommodate the next cube. This retrograde minute s display is doubtless still the largest to be found in a wristwatch.

In a quest for greater power and velocity, all faces of the minute hand have been openworked. This lightning-fast retrograde system is based on three key elements:

• The central axis set in ruby bearings ensures the perfect stability of the mechanism and is the foundation on which the entire complication rests. A marine chronometer-type cylindrical spring running along this axis generates the tension necessary for the snap-back retrograde motion
• The atypical minutes hand, which forms a frame for the hour satellites, features extraordinary dimensions. Milled from aluminum to ultra-accurate hundredth of a millimeter tolerance, the entire structure has a total weight of 0.302g and ideal measurements (width 8.03mm x length 22.29mm x height 7.30mm), while its perfect balance is ensured by a brass counterweight
• A double coaxial star shaped cam regulates the retrograde mechanism through its gearing and its rotation defines the trajectory of the minute hand.

Another item of information provided on the dial is the power reserve indication, which can be read on two subdials. The power reserve is indicated by these two 24-hour gauges. During manual winding, the gauge on the right is the first to indicate the mainspring state of wind. Once it has reached its maximum level, the indicator on the left takes over.

This power reserve distributed between two “reservoirs” is composed of 83 mechanical elements, testifying to the complexity of its development.

The Art of Detail

As no detail has been overlooked here, the typography of the hour markers on the UR-220 has been completely redesigned by Frei and the hours and minutes numerals feature an even sharper profile.