Sunday, May 25, 2014

The Dark Knight Rises - Urwerk 105M

Just a couple of months ago, I was in Switzerland and met with one Mr. Baumgartner and here I am back in Singapore meeting with another Mr. Baumgartner - Felix Baumgartner of Urwerk together with Mr. Martin Frei for the launch of the Urwerk UR-105M.

Thanks to the Hourglass who hosted the luncheon at Au Petit Salut. We had a wonderful lunch starting with the Ballotine of Norwegian mackerel with Bergamot puree. A well paired combination.
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Next up was the smoked chestnut and mushroom veloute. This soup was added with a touch of truffle vinaigrette.
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For the main course, I chose the fish which in this instance was a Fillet of Snapper with cauliflower & white chocolate emulsion. I have to say that this was also a superb dish - done just right.
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And the dessert was also wonderfully rich. Date and fig cake with chocolate.
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The food was good but that was not why we were there. The main attraction were the timepieces - works of mechanical wonder. Present to unveil the watch were the dynamic duo, Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei.
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Named the Urwerk UR-105M, there are two versions - the Iron Knight (left) and the Dark Knight (right). The Iron Knight is encased in titanium and steel while the Dark Knight comes with a titanium case and a special aluminum treated steel bezel. First, the Iron Knight.
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The 105M as with all Urwerk features the Satellite hours disc gliding along the minute scale at the bottom of the case. The crown is positioned at the 12 O'Clock. In the picture below, the time shown is 12:38. Notice at the right side of the display that you can probably see the seconds display just above the 5 minute mark.
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What is special about this variation is the fact that the power reserve and the seconds are displayed at the side of the watch. Quite literally at the side.
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And at the back of the watch, you find a skeleton head with a smiley face staring back at you. Called the "Control Board", the indicators will show you the power reserve as well as when an oil change is required and also how the watch can be fine tuned.
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Felix and Martin are proud of the fact that their watches are "self" regulated and what is meant by "self regulated" is the fact that the 105M has a fine tuning adjustor at the "Control Board". With a simple screw driver like tool, one can adjust the watch to run faster or slower to suit the owner's profile. The indicator will show the adjusted position.
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The Dark Knight on the other hand looks more handsome to me. Fully black, I feel this version adds a little more stealth to the whole watch.
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According to Felix, their yearly production numbers will remain within 150 pieces and there are no plans to expand that number. They would like to keep the production to a manageable number.

Here another view of the satellite disc mechanism. Not only is the mechanism a technical feat, the material used for the discs have to be durable and lightweight. Urwerk uses a special PolyEtherEthercetone material for this disc.
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The number of parts used for the 105M is not as much as the 110 but Felix says the production cost for the 105M comes very close to that of the 110.
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Overall a well made technical feat that boasts many patents and the watch is very Urwerk. One more look at the 105M
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I like the brand and what it stands for and hope to be able to get my hands on the 103 at some point in time.

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