Urwerk unveils new timepiece themed on the spellbinding superlatives of Dubai, the maddening, yet tantalising megacity. For all its wealth and display, Dubai is also rich in sophisticated traditions. The cocktail of emotions stirred by the first experience of this breath-taking city is engraved forever in the metal of UR-210 Dubai timepiece.
On the watchmaking side, the satellite indication with retrograde minutes is both original and astonishing. The prominent role is played by the three-dimensional minutes indicator — a high-tech structure that grips the hours cube and transports it from 0 to the 60th minute on the scale.
UR-210 Dubai
This hourly journey through time takes place with smooth regularity along an arc of 120°, but at the end of the 59th minute, the UR-210 shows what it is capable of. With a sharp click, the structure jumps back to its starting point in less than a tenth of a second to take control of the next hours satellite. This lighting-quick retrograde indication depends on three key mechanisms:
• A central shaft ensures the system’s stability. Pivoting on rubies, it is the rock on which the entire complication is constructed. A marine-chronometer spring along this axis provides the tension for the retrograde action.
• The unconventional minutes hand, that acts like a kind of fairing around the satellite, frames the outsize hours numerals. It has been very precisely cut to tolerances of three microns. Forged out of aluminum, its total weight of 0.302 grams is perfectly poised by a brass counterbalance.
• A double coaxial star cam governs the retrograde action. Its gearing and then its rotation will determine the trajectory of the minutes hand.
The dial of the UR-210 displays a conventional power-reserve indicator at 1 o’clock. On the opposite side at 11 o’clock is the first ever indication of the winding performance of the watch during the past two hours on your wrist. Instead of showing the torque or the tension in the mainspring, it shows the winding efficiency by calculating the ratio between the energy generated to wind the watch and the energy used to keep it going.
Knowing the winding efficiency of your watch enables you to adjust the winding rate. If your UR-210 shows that not enough energy is being generated, you can turn the winding rate adjuster on the back of the watch to FULL. The winding rotor then becomes sensitive to the slightest motion, converting it into pure energy. The rotor is connected to a turbine that ensures an optimum winding rate while dampening shocks. If your activity creates too much energy, turning the adjusting wheel to REDUCED absorbs some of that energy to prevent unnecessary stress on the mechanism. A turbine mounted on ruby bearings starts to spin, acting as an air compressor and creating a resistance that slows down the winding rotor. In the STOP position, the self-winding system is disengaged and the UR-210 becomes a manually wound watch. UR-210 debuted at the Dubai Watch Week.
UR-210 Dubai
