The Urwerk team of Felix Baumgartner (master watchmaker) and Martin Frei (designer) have been creating time pieces defying conventional nomenclature for over 20 years. Rotating discs or cubes to indicate time have become their signature, however the present UR-111C is a breakthrough from what we are used to seeing from them yet perfectly in line and recognizable as an Urwerk creation.

Inspired by the original King Cobra the brand had introduced in 2010 which in itself was a homage to a Patek Philippe prototype created by Louis Cottier (now in the Patek Philippe Museum) the present UR-111C presents a novel linear time display where hours and minutes are indicated via rotating cones. On the left side the hours are indicated, the centre stage is reserved for the minutes, where a cylinder with a yellow marker twists its way up the minute track and, upon reaching the red 60-minute marker jumps back to zero where the hour cylinder rotates to the next hour. The opening on the right also indicated in the continuous minutes. On the top part of the case is the seconds indication using optical fibers.

Doing away with the conventional crown the watch is wound via the roller on the centre of the case, once the lever on the case side is pulled the roller can be used for time setting.

Limited to 25 pieces in steel and 25 in steel with gunmetal finish like the present example, Urwerk’s UR-111C is an incredibly ingenious, audacious and wearable timepiece definitely with a futuristic design but inspired from the history of watchmaking.

Please note that Urwerk generously offers a complimentary service of the watch to the successful bidder.