User:Paul elys/URWERK

URWERK is an independent Swiss watch brand, founded in 1997 by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, in Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland. It is specialized in the design and manufacturing of haute horlogerie timepieces, and is characterized by watches that blend tradition with a futuristic vision. It operates with retailers in Geneva, Madrid, Monaco, Moscow, London, Doha, Dubaï, Singapore, Hong-Kong, New-York, Los Angeles, and Miami. The head office is in Geneva, Switzerland.

History
Urwerk was co-founded in 1997 by the watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and the artist and designer Martin Frei. The brand distinguishes itself by combining the luxury of high watchmaking codes with a futuristic approach, including the latest technologies and materials in watchmaking such as atomic time measurement.

The first product lines made by Urwerk were the UR-101 and UR-102 watches, which were presented at Baselworld, the same year.

Urwerk takes its name from the Mesopotamian city of Ur, a city-state of the Sumerian civilization known for its early innovations in terms of time measurement. The Mesopotamians were the first civilization to divide time into units of 60 parts. Our 60-second minute and 60-minute hour directly comes from the Mesopotamian’s time-measurement system. The second part of the brand’s name, werk, is a German word referring to work, evolution, creation, crafting and the stirring of emotions.

Nowadays, the brand limits its production to 150 timepieces a year.

Concept
The URWERK brand concept is based on 2 major elements:


 * A unique and distinctive design nourished by art and history. The "Satellite" collection is the most representative of this concept. The hours are shown on different metal plates on the dial, called “satellites”, gliding along an arc at the bottom of the dial,  showing the minutes. This technique is inspired by the satellite complication technique, first used in XVIIth century clocks.
 * Innovation through the alliance of historical watchmaking values with futuristic vision and horological technologies.

Awards

 * 2011: Design Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for the UR-110.
 * 2014: Innovation Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for the EMC.
 * 2014: Mechanical Exception Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for the EMC.
 * 2019: Audacity Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for the AMC.
 * 2020: Prix GAÏA Spirit of Enterprise Award from the Musée international d’horlogerie.