Urwerk launched The UR-100 Electrum at GWD 2021. The UR-100 Electrum is limited edition of 25 pieces and comes with a case made of an organic gold and palladium alloy giving it a sunny yellow antique colour.
Many of us will know that Electrum is one of the earliest precious materials, and a veritable treasure in ancient times. Electrum being an alloy of gold and silver, was much coveted among Ancient Greeks, Amerindian civilisations and Ancient Egyptians. While the first coins were minted from this metal, with evolution, this material gradually fell into oblivion. This alloy of gold and silver was not a very favourable mix due to the oxidational properties of Silver and the other health hazards that it brings. Through the years, the brilliant team at Urwerk worked against all those odds and gave it a new lease of life with the UR-100 Electrum by replacing Silver with another noble material – Palladium.
In addition to the satellite-type hours and minutes display, the UR-100 Electrum provides a new item of information. Once the 60th minute has passed, the minutes hand vanishes and reappears as a kilometre counter illustrating the 555 kilometres travelled every 20 minutes by every inhabitant of the Earth. This in fact corresponds to the Earth’s average speed of rotation calculated at the Equator. Earth’s revolution around the sun – corresponding to 35,740 kilometres per 20 minutes – is displayed exactly opposite. On the face of the UR-100 Electrum, hours and kilometres thus share the same status, the same scale of value. These units are illuminated in incandescent green for the hours and in blazing white for the kilometres
Felix Baumgartner, master watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK, said: “This creation was inspired by a gift from my father, Geri Baumgartner, a renowned restorer of antique clocks. It is a clock made by Gustave Sandoz for the 1893 World’s Fair. Its distinctive feature is that instead of counting off the hours, it indicates the distance travelled by the Earth at the Equator. Martin Frei, designer and co-founder of URWERK, fought hard to have this indication appear on the dials of the UR-100 “In my view, a watch is both a physical and abstract reproduction of our situation on Earth. It anchors us to a precise time and longitude, while at the same time testifying to the fleeting nature of that position.”
The rhythm and rhyme of time are in the centre of this golden arena with the satellite-type hours and minutes display. It has a Power reserve of 48 hours. The 41mm 18K 2N Electrum yellow gold watch case has Satin-brush finished. This unique timepiece is priced at approximately CHF 62,000 excluding taxes.
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