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“Bringing out yet another version of an existing mechanical complication was not our aim”, says Felix Baumgartner, master-watchmaker and co-founder of URWERK. “Our watches are unique because each has been conceived as an original work. That is what makes them valuable and rare. Above all, we want to explore beyond the traditional horizons of watchmaking.” Martin Frei, chief designer and the other co-founder of URWERK, develops the aesthetic signature for each of the models. “I come from a world of total creative freedom. I’m not cast in the watchmaking mold, so i can draw my inspiration from my entire cultural heritage.”
While URWERK is a youthful company established in 1997, it is regarded as a pioneer on the independent watchmaking scene. Producing 150 watches per year, URWERK sees itself as a House of artisans where traditional expertise and avant-garde aesthetics coexist in perfect harmony. URWERK develops complex and modern watches unlike any others and meeting the most demanding Haute Horlogerie criteria: independent research and design, cutting-edge materials and hand-crafted finishing.
The roots of the name URWERK date back to 6000 BC and the Mesopotamian city known as Ur of the Chaldees. Observing the shadow cast by the sun on their monuments, the Sumerians first defined the unit of time as we know it today. The word “Ur” also means “beginnings” or “origins” in German and the last syllable of the URWERK signature also comes the same language, since “werk” means creating, working and innovation. A tribute to the constant work of successive master-watchmakers who have forged what we now refer to as Haute Horlogerie.
