Urwerk introduced the latest and final version of its UR-105 collection: UR-105 TTH Tantalum Hull.
Urwerk, one of the leading names among the high-end brands of luxury watchmaking, ends the production of the long-running UR-105 product group. The boutique brand sends off its successful model family with a final version limited to only 12 pieces.
Martin Frei, one of the founding partners of the brand, summarizes his thoughts on the contrary metal of the watch world, tantalum, with the following words: “Tantalum is a very special metal. Its name comes from Tantalus, one of Greek mythology’s bad boys," co-founder Martin Frei discloses. "Tantalum is precious, rare, and extremely painful to machine and finish. We made a UR-110 out of tantalum a few years ago – a first that almost was the last. The team made me promise never to use it again because tantalum ‘eats’ our CNC machines’ bits. It destroys them, reducing their life by a factor of three. But I love its blue-gray luster. Pure magic!”
Felix Baumgartner, the other man behind Urwerk, expresses his point of view in the following words: “Tantalum is a precious metal weighing approximately the same as platinum. It has a solid presence on the wrist. To machine, it is a nightmare, but it has incomparable beauty. Tantalum is one of the most URWERK-ian metals I know of. It is dark, almost anthracite-colored, a shade that is an integral part of URWERK’s aesthetic signature”
The new model comes with a characteristic case called "soap bar". The dimensions of the case, in which titanium and tantalum are used together, are 39.5mm x 53mm x 17.8mm. Equipped with sapphire crystal, the case is waterproof up to 30 meters.
The dial, designed according to the satellite display concept, hosts hour and minute indices on which Super-LumiNOVA © phosphor material is applied by hand.
The model beats with the Caliber UR 5.03. Automatic movement with twin turbine regulator operates at a frequency of 4Hz (28.800vph) and offers 48 hours of power reserve when fully wound. The dial, which supports the industrial and hi-end character of the model with its design, includes features such as Geneva cross made of beryllium bronze material, carrousel made of aluminum and skeletonized, skeletonized nickel-phosphor LIGA digital seconds, as well as decorative details such as perlage, micro-blasting, and frosting.
The model, which is limited to only 12 pieces, is completed by a Vulcarbon © rubber strap referenced “Kiska”. At the end of the strap, a black DLC coated buckle works. The list price for the model is CHF 77,000 (excluding taxes).
